Question

If Bohr’s quantisation postulate (angular momentum = nh/2π) is a basic law of nature, it should be equally valid for the case of planetary motion also. Why then do we never speak of quantisation of orbits of planets around the sun?

Answer 1

We never speak of quantization of orbits of planets around the Sun because the angular momentum associated with planetary motion is largely relative to the value of Planck’s constant (h). The angular momentum of the Earth in its orbit is of the order of 10⁷⁰ h. This leads to a very high value of quantum levels n of the order of 10⁷⁰. For large values of n, successive energies and angular momenta are relatively very small. Hence, the quantum levels for planetary motion are considered continuous.