emission spectra

[helloworld101]

hi
why does the hydrogen spectrum (or any other spectrum) consits of lines?

i think that it does because its an emission spectra,energy is given off in the form of light and this light is record as a line colour.

am not sure if i am correct. i dont think i word the answer properly either. can u help me correct if it needs correction. thank u :)

[Sonic]

hi
why does the hydrogen spectrum (or any other spectrum) consits of lines?

i think that it does because its an emission spectra,energy is given off in the form of light and this light is record as a line colour.

am not sure if i am correct. i dont think i word the answer properly either. can u help me correct if it needs correction. thank u :)

That's pretty close. What happens is that electrons only occupy certain, discrete energy levels (meaning they do not exist in a range of distances from the nucleus).

Moving between levels emits a certain amount of energy by Planck's Law (E=hf) which renders it out as electromagnetic radiation

[Russ]

I'm not 100% sure this is correct, but it's the intensity of the light that matters and not necessarily the width of the bands.

[Sonic]

I'm not 100% sure this is correct, but it's the intensity of the light that matters and not necessarily the width of the bands.

If I've understood this question it is due to the photoelectric effect that the electron is emitted and therefore it's the frequency (and by extension, wavelength) of the light that matters as opposed to it's intensity. Only certain frequency can dislodge an electron from a shell

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoelectric_effect#Einstein:_light_quanta

[helloworld101]

that helps thanks