PHYS 2004 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Emission Spectrum, Johann Jakob Balmer
16 Nov 2017
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Although the emission and absorption spectra of a gas are both discrete, there is an important difference. Every wavelength absorbed by the gas is also emitted, but not every emitted wavelength is absorbed. The wavelengths in the absorption spectrum are a subset of those in the emission spectrum. All the absorption wavelengths are prominent in the emission spectrum, but there are many emission wavelengths for which no absorption occurs. The emission spectrum of hydrogen, seen below, is very simple and regular. In 1885 a swiss schoolteacher named johann balmer discovered a formula which accurately describes every wavelength in the emission spectrum of hydrogen: Bal(cid:373)er s origi(cid:374)al versio(cid:374) o(cid:374)ly i(cid:374)cluded m = 2.
