Some Conspicuous Successes of the Bohr Atom and a Serious Difficulty

Some consequences to the Bohr theory of extending the formulas for x-ray doublets to optical spectra.—The extension of the laws for x-ray doublets to ultra-violet spectra has given values of the screening constant in agreement with the Moseley-Bohr formula. This extension means a considerable simplification but it implies the identification of the ${\mathrm{L}}_{\mathrm{I}}$, ${\mathrm{L}}_{\mathrm{II}}$, ${\mathrm{L}}_{\mathrm{III}}$ x-ray levels with the $s$, $p_2$, $p_1$ terms of optical series, respectively. This would make $p_2{p}_1$ correspond to $2_1$$2_2$ orbits (whereas they are always both assigned to $2_2$ orbits) and would also assign both $s$ and $p_2$ to the $2_1$ orbits. In this case, the screening constant must, contrary to the natural assumption, be much more affected by orientation of orbit (inner quantum number) than by the shape of the orbit (azimuthal number). This seems to require either discarding the relativity explanation of $p_2{p}_1$ and ${\mathrm{L}}_{\mathrm{II}}$${\mathrm{L}}_{\mathrm{III}}$ doublets and with it all relativity effects in electronic orbits or introducing a dissymmetry not heretofore contemplated in atomic models, abandoning Bohr's interpenetration ideas and his assignment of azimuthal quantum numbers.