ABSTRACT
Lakatos’ criterion of justified theory-replacement is vague. One of its requirements is that T
qualifies as “accounting for previous successes.” A weak requirement is that calculations from T
had achieved agreement with observations. Niels Bohr emphasized the importance of asymptotic agreement in his theory
of the hydrogen atom (1913). Axioms of Bohr’s theory include:
1 The electron moves in one of a set of circular orbits around the nucleus; 2 The orbital motion of the electron obeys both Newton’s second law-
F = ma-and Coulomb’s law of electrostatic attraction-F = q + q
3 The orbital angular momentum is subject to a quantum condition. Its values are restricted to integral multiples of a minimum value h / 2π, viz., m v = n h / 2π, where h is a constant, and n is an integer; and
4 Energy is absorbed or emitted only upon transition from one orbit to another, such that E
Rules of correspondence correlate values of n and λ within the axiom system with lines observed in the emission and absorption spectra of hydrogen gas. For instance, transitions from orbits for which n = 3, 4, 5 ... to n = 2 are in agreement with that series of spectral lines whose wavelengths were determined experimentally by Balmer. No rules of correspondence are specified, however, for locating an electron either within an orbit or between orbits during a transition.
