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When light passes through the outer layers of the Sun certain frequencies of light are absorbed by hydrogen atoms, producing dark lines in the spectrum - Scottish Highers Physics - Question 19 - 2019
Question 19
When light passes through the outer layers of the Sun certain frequencies of light are absorbed by hydrogen atoms, producing dark lines in the spectrum. The diagram... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:When light passes through the outer layers of the Sun certain frequencies of light are absorbed by hydrogen atoms, producing dark lines in the spectrum - Scottish Highers Physics - Question 19 - 2019
Step 1
Calculate the number of transitions (absorption lines)
Answer
To find the number of absorption lines created by electron transitions between the energy levels, we can use the formula for combinations. For n energy levels, the number of unique transitions is given by:
ext{Number of transitions} = inom{n}{2} = rac{n(n-1)}{2}
In this case, the energy levels are E0, E1, E2, E3, E4 (5 levels in total). Using n = 5:
ext{Number of transitions} = rac{5(5-1)}{2} = rac{5 imes 4}{2} = 10
Thus, there are 10 unique transitions, which correspond to 10 absorption lines.