Why do spectral lines have different brightness?

Explanation: The thickness (brightness) depends on the number of photons. When there is more frequency, there is more energy so it emits more photons.

Why are the spectral lines different colors?

The decomposition of the white light in different colors results from different wavelengths, as a consequence, they move at different speeds in the prism, with red light moving faster than violet. The result is that red light bends less sharply than violet as it passes through the prism, creating a spectrum of colors.

What is the relationship between the wavelength of a spectral line and its energy?

Substituting the relationship between the frequency, wavelength, and the speed of light into this equation suggests that the energy of a photon is inversely proportional to its wavelength. The inverse of the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation is therefore directly proportional to the energy of this radiation.

How does the intensity of the spectral line varies with wavelength?

Intensity of spectral lines depends on the wavelength which has an inverse relation with the frequency of that particular spectral line. Hence, a wave which has greater frequency will have lower wavelength and a higher intensity.

Why are different colored lines produced in atomic emission spectra?

Photons have different energies that correspond to different wavelengths. Therefore, the color of emission lines reflects the amount of energy released by an electron. This energy changes depending on the orbital structure of the atom and the energy levels of its electrons.

Why do a series of compounds show different wavelength emission lines?

There are many possible electron transitions for each atom, and each transition has a specific energy difference. This collection of different transitions, leading to different radiated wavelengths, make up an emission spectrum.

Why do different elements emit different colors?

Heating an atom excites its electrons and they jump to higher energy levels. When the electrons return to lower energy levels, they emit energy in the form of light. Every element has a different number of electrons and a different set of energy levels. Thus, each element emits its own set of colours.

Why do spectral lines appear?

Spectral lines are produced by transitions of electrons within atoms or ions. As the electrons move closer to or farther from the nucleus of an atom (or of an ion), energy in the form of light (or other radiation) is emitted or absorbed.…

Why does the intensity of a spectral line depend upon the sample temperature?

LINE INTENSITY But intensity also depends on the temperature of the atoms—that is, the temperature of the entire gas of which the atoms are members—because temperature determines what fraction of the atoms at any instant are in the right orbital to undergo any particular transition.

Which color of light has the longest wavelength?

The wavelengths of visible light are: Violet light has the shortest wavelength, which means it has the highest frequency and energy. Red has the longest wavelength, the shortest frequency, and the lowest energy.

What happens to the color of light as wavelength decreases?

If the waves involved are visible light, then the colors of the light change slightly. As wavelength decreases, they shift toward the blue end of the spectrum: astronomers call this a blueshift (since the end of the spectrum is really violet, the term should probably be violetshift, but blue is a more common color).

Why do we see lines in the spectrum of light?

If we separate the incoming light from a celestial source using a prism, we will often see a spectrum of colours crossed with discrete lines. Note that spectral lines can also occur in other regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, although we can no longer use a prism to help identify them.

What is the relationship between wave length and wave frequency?

Because wave-lengths and wave frequencies are related through the dispersion relation, we can also represent the sea surface as an infinite sum of sine and cosine functions of different frequencies moving in all directions. Note in our discussion of Fourier series that we assume the coefficients ( a n, b n, Z n) are constant.