Why do line spectra for substances differ? Could line spectra be used to fingerprint emissions?

Expert Solution

When you take a sample of element (a metal for example) and heat to high temperature (by giving energy to the system), the electrons in the valence shell gets excited to the higher energy level absrobing the corrsponding energy diffence between the two states. We get a absorption spectrum, which is basically the missing line from the contionous spectrum.

The electron in the excited state has some life time after which it reverts back to the original state and in the process emits the light whose wavelength is the difference in the energy between the excited state and the ground state.

The level in the excited states are quantum levels (because the energy levels are quantised) is characterstic of a given element and hence each element has different line spectra and can be used for fingerprint emissions and there by find out the nature of the element present in the sample. The analysis of the samples by AAS(Atomic absorption spectroscopy) and AES (Atomic emission specroscopy) is used to find and estimate the unknown element in a given sample.

queen_honey_blossom answered 1 year ago

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