a theory of atomic structure that explains the spectrum of hydrogen atoms. It assumes that the electron orbiting around the nucleus can exist only in certain energy states, a jump from one state to another being accompanied by the emission or absorption of a quantum of radiation
Word origin
C20: after Niels Bohr
Bohr theory in American English
a theory, proposed by Niels Bohr in 1913, stating that electrons revolve in definite orbits around a nucleus, and that radiation is absorbed or emitted only when an electron is transferred from one orbit to another