James Franck and Gustav HertzBy: Christopher KellnerJames Frank and Gustav Hertz received the Nobel Prize in 1925 for the Frank-Hertz experiment carried out in 1914. This experiment confirmed Bohr's model of the atom by discovering the laws which govern the impact of an electron on an atom. Atomic physics was a new science created in 1913 by Niels Bohr. He did this by putting forward several new hypotheses to explain several discrepancies between luminous bodies and the radiation they emit, which could not be explained by classical physics. Several decades earlier, during experiments in the field of spectroscopy, it was found that observing a glowing gas through a spectrometer revealed many different lines called spectral lines. The relationship between the lineages has been described by several scientists, the most famous of whom was Rydberg. However, the fundamental question of how a single element can emit so many lines could not be resolved. Niels Bohr responded with the following hypotheses: Each atom can exist in an unlimited number of different states, called stationary states. Each of these stationary states is characterized by a given energy level. The difference between two of these energy levels, divided by Planck's constant h, is the oscillation frequency of a spectral line that can be emitted by the atom. In addition to these general assumptions, Bohr also gave specific ones for use with hydrogen and helium that allow people to very well calculate the spectral lines that match the experimental data. Unfortunately, the general hypotheses discovered by Bohr could not become experimental fact until an experiment could confirm that atoms had different states. That's where Frank and Hertz came in. The Frank-Hertz experiment showed that atoms... middle of paper ... Frank and Hertz believed that the observed ultraviolet light was due to this ionization. Neil Bohr published a paper in 1915 that the results of the Frank-Hertz experiment better fit his theory of quantum output states. By 1919, Frank and Hertz essentially accepted that their experiment confirmed Bohr's quantum model. Frank had this to say: It's funny how many accidents turn into Nobel Prizes. You can see this experiment happening in many different places, except they tend to use different atoms. Neon signs are the most common. The main color emitted when a free electron strikes a neon atom is red, and with high voltage many collisions will produce red light. Additionally, as the voltage is variable, the origin of the multiple red lights moves very quickly, giving the impression that the whole thing is constantly emitting red light..