Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Explain why the hydrogen atom has magnetic properties

Explain why the energy levels of a hydrogen atom associated with orbital angular momentum
are split by an external magnetic field
Use quantum numbers to calculate the magnitude and direction of the orbital magnetic dipole
moment of a hydrogen atom

In Bohr’s model of the hydrogen atom, the electron moves in a circular orbit around the proton. The
electron passes by a particular point on the loop in a certain time, so we can calculate a current
I = Q/t . An electron that orbits a proton in a hydrogen atom is therefore analogous to current

flowing through a circular wire (Figure 8.10). In the study of magnetism, we saw that a current-
carrying wire produces magnetic fields. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that the hydrogen
atom produces a magnetic field and interacts with other magnetic fields.

Figure 8.10 (a) Current flowing through a circular wire is analogous to (b) an electron that orbits a proton in a hydrogen atom.

The orbital magnetic dipole moment is a measure of the strength of the magnetic field produced
by the orbital angular momentum of an electron. From Force and Torque on a Current Loop, the
magnitude of the orbital magnetic dipole moment for a current loop is

μ = I A, 8.13

where I is the current and A is the area of the loop. (For brevity, we refer to this as the magnetic
moment.) The current I associated with an electron in orbit about a proton in a hydrogen atom is
e
I = , 8.14
T

where e is the magnitude of the electron charge and T is its orbital period. If we assume that the
electron travels in a perfectly circular orbit, the orbital period is

2πr
T = , 8.15
v
where r is the radius of the orbit and v is the speed of the electron in its orbit. Given that the area of
a circle is πr2 , the absolute magnetic moment is
e evr
2
μ = IA = πr = .
2πr
2
8.16
( )
v

It is helpful to express the magnetic momentum μ in terms of the orbital angular momentum
⃗
(L = r ⃗ × p⃗). Because the electron orbits in a circle, the position vector r ⃗ and the momentum
vector p⃗ form a right angle. Thus, the magnitude of the orbital angular momentum is

∣ ⃗∣
L = L = |r ⃗ × p⃗| = rp sin θ = rp = rmv.
∣ ∣ 8.17

Combining these two equations, we have

e
μ = ( ) L. 8.18
2me

In full vector form, this expression is written as

e
⃗
μ⃗ = − ( ) L. 8.19
2me

The negative sign appears because the electron has a negative charge. Notice that the direction of
the magnetic moment of the electron is antiparallel to the orbital angular momentum, as shown in
Figure 8.10(b). In the Bohr model of the atom, the relationship between μ⃗ and L⃗ in Equation 8.19 is
independent of the radius of the orbit.

The magnetic moment μ can also be expressed in terms of the orbital angular quantum number l.
Combining Equation 8.18 and Equation 8.15, the magnitude of the magnetic moment is

e e −−−−−− −−−−−−
μ = ( )L = ( ) √l(l + 1)ℏ = μB √l(l + 1). 8.20
2me 2me

The z-component of the magnetic moment is

e e
μz = − ( ) Lz = − ( ) mℏ = −μB m. 8.21
2me 2me

The quantity μB is a fundamental unit of magnetism called the Bohr magneton, which has the value
joule/tesla (J/T) or 5.8 × 10 eV/T. Quantization of the magnetic moment is the
−24 −5
9.3 × 10

result of quantization of the orbital angular momentum.