Practice question · Multiple choice
Hydrogen emits sharp lines rather than a continuous spectrum. What does this reveal about the electron?
Hints
- A photon energy is set by the difference between two states.
- Only particular differences occur, so only particular states exist.
Show the answer
B. It can only occupy particular allowed energy levels
Why
Each line is one transition, and its energy is a difference between two states. A discrete set of lines means a discrete set of allowed energies, quantisation, not a continuum of possible orbits.
Practise Atomic Spectra and the Quantum Atom
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