an excited electron jumps back to its ground state in two steps. what will its emission spectrum look like…
an excited electron jumps back to its ground state in two steps. what will its emission spectrum look like? a one long line b one thick line c two distinct lines d a continuous patch
Answer
Explanation:
Step1: Understand emission spectrum concept
When an electron jumps from an excited state to a lower - energy state (including the ground state), it emits a photon. The energy of the photon is equal to the energy difference between the two states.
Step2: Analyze the two - step jump
If an electron jumps back to the ground state in two steps, say from an excited state (E_1) to an intermediate state (E_2) and then from (E_2) to the ground state (E_0). The energy differences (\Delta E_1=E_1 - E_2) and (\Delta E_2=E_2 - E_0) are different. Each energy difference corresponds to a photon of a specific wavelength (or frequency). Since there are two different energy differences, there will be two distinct photons emitted.
Answer:
C. two distinct lines