Atomic Emission Spectra

Chemistry in your life

• A pilot light is the ignition source for a natural gas furnace, which fuels the energy for many buildings

  • Usually it burns a blue color​, but can sometimes be found burning different colors

    • What does this mean, and when should you go for repairs?

Experience Chemistry | Lesson 1.4

Properties of Light

• Light has properties of both particles and waves

  • Shows wavelength​ behavior as it travels through space

    • Different Wavelengths are different colors

  • When light strikes something, it behaves like a particle

• Light is a form of energy and electromagnetic radiation

Experience Chemistry | Lesson 1.4

Atomic Emission Spectra

• Electrons exist naturally in a ground state

  • anything higher than the ground state is called an excited state

• When an element is in a gaseous state and gains energy, electrons become excited and unstable

  • As the electron is released, light is released

    • Specific wavelengths of light released depending on the element

• Atomic Emission Spectrum: the pattern formed when light emitted by an element is separated into the different wavelengths it contains

Experience Chemistry | Lesson 1.4

Atomic Emission Spectra

• Each Element emits specific wavelengths

  • The atomic emission spectrum of each element is like a fingerprint

    • No two have the same spectrum

    • The spectrum does not change for an individual element in any circumstances

• It is possible to identify the elements in a mixture based on it's atomic emission

Experience Chemistry | Lesson 1.4

The Bohr Model

• Niels Bohr

  • Danish physicist

  • Proposed that electrons move in circular orbits around the nucleus

  • Each orbit have a fixed level of energy, and are called energy levels

    • When provided the ​right amount of energy, electrons can jump from one level to another

      • Quantum: the amount of energy required to jump an electron from one energy level to another

        • can vary based on where the electrons are and distance from the nucleus

Experience Chemistry | Lesson 1.4

The Bohr Model

• ​Energy Levels in an atom are not equally spaced

  • Higher energy levels are closer together than lower energy levels​

• The Bohr Model explains the specific Atomic Emissions of each element

  • Each line in the spectrum corresponds to a specific electron in transition​

Experience Chemistry | Lesson 1.4

The Bohr Model

• ​The Bohr Model is not entirely correct, but serves as a simple model of certain properties​

Experience Chemistry | Lesson 1.4