Elements of life

Question 1

what is the formula that links energy and frequency?

Answer 1

energy = planks constant x frequency

delta E = H V (nu)

Question 2

what is the formula that links speed of light, frequency and wavelength

Answer 2

speed of light = frequency x wavelength

Question 3

what is nuclear fusion?

Answer 3

nuclear fusion is when two small nuclei combine under high temperature and pressure to make one larger nucleus.
this process happens naturally in stars all the time

Question 4

what is the order of the electromagnetic spectrum?

Answer 4

radio wave
microwaves 
infrared 
visible light 
ultraviolet  
x-rays 
gamma rays

Question 5

describe what happens to wavelength and frequency as you move along the EM spectrum

Answer 5

wavelength decreases and frequency increases

Question 6

what is the difference between absorption and emission spectra?

Answer 6

absorption spectra is made up of black lines on a coloured background
emission spectra is made up of coloured lines on a black background.

Question 7

describe the absorption spectra

Answer 7

• coloured background with black lines
• electromagnetic radiation is passed through a gaseous element then is absorbed by electrons at certain frequencies corresponding to different energy levels
• this means that the radiation passing through is missing certain frequencies which correspond to differences in energy levels.
• this shows up as dark lines on a coloured background called ‘ atomic absorption spectrum.

Question 8

describe the emission spectra

Answer 8

• electrons drop to a lower energy level,
• which give out certain amounts of energy
• for any particular element the pattern this produces the same pattern as the absorption spectra just an opposite of each other.
• each element has a different electron arrangement, so the frequencies of radiation absorbed and emitted are different for each element.