Light Flashcards
White light
A composite of all colors
What determines a light’s color?
Its wavelength
Frequency
how fast successive crests pass by a given point
The Bohr Model
electrons can only orbit atoms at precisely defined levels: orbitals
Ground state
lowest energy orbital
electronic transitions
move an electron from one orbital to another
ionization
the electron is ejected from the atom
When are photons emitted from an atom?
when an electron moves from a higher energy level to a lower energy level
When are photons absorbed into an atom?
when an electron moves from a lower energy level to a higher energy level
continuous spectrum
The source emits light that is continuous and all colors are present
emission-line spectrum
A hot, thin gas will emit characteristic frequencies of light.
absorption line spectrum
A cool gas will absorb light behind it at a characteristic
frequency
