PHYSICS 204
Emission Spectra Lab
In this lab you are using Boston University’s Emission Spectra Lab simulation:
http://physics.bu.edu/~duffy/HTML5/emission_spectra.html
Procedure
First, a bit of background information. In the atom of each element, an electron
(or electrons) can transition from one energy level to another by absorption of
photons or emission of photons. To get a clearer picture of this phenomenon, we
will use the simplified but not wholly accurate Bohr model of the atom. Here
electrons orbit the nucleus at fixed select energy levels with higher energy level
orbits or shells being positioned farther away from the (center) nucleus.
Figure 1. Bohr model atom: Electron absorbs photon energy – promoted to higher
level, electron emits photon energy – falls to a lower level
When an electron moves from a higher energy level to a lower energy level it
releases a photon with energy equivalent to the difference between these two
levels in the atom. In figure 2, illustration shows there are three different series
which are associated with electron transition emissions.
