Question

1. use the drop - down menu to choose the configurable atom (instead of hydrogen). you can select the # of empty electronic energy levels in the configurable atom and adjust their location by dragging. move the atom about in the discharge tube. you may wish to change the electron production to continuous. turn on the spectrophotometer and squiggles).

a. start with only two electron levels. what do you notice about the color of the squiggle as you drag the second level up and down?
experiment with different numbers of energy levels and spacings. you may turn the squiggles on and off as needed. use slow motion and/or switch to single electron production if you find it difficult to see what is happening.
b. answer these true/false questions (highlight the correct answer) :
true false photons are emitted as electrons in the atom jump up in energy.
true false the colors emitted depend on the number of free electrons passing through the lamp.
true false when a free electron hits an atom, the atom is always excited to the highest energy level possible.
true false when atomic electrons are excited to a higher level, they always return to their lowest energy level by jumping down one level at a time.
true false once excited, electrons can only jump down directly to energy level 1.

1. choose the hydrogen atom and let the simulation run for a few seconds. make sure the spectrometer is on.

a. as it runs, how many lines appear in the visible portion of the spectrum? are all of the colors the same intensity (brightness)? explain why or why not.

Explanation:

Step1: Analyze electron - level movement and color

When dragging the second electron level up and down with only two electron levels, the color of the squiggle changes because the energy difference between the two levels changes, which affects the wavelength of the emitted photon. Different wavelengths correspond to different colors.

Step2: Answer True - False questions

• Photons are emitted as electrons in the atom jump down in energy, not up. So "Photons are emitted as electrons in the atom jump up in energy" is False.
• The colors emitted depend on the energy differences between electron levels, not the number of free electrons passing through the lamp. So "The colors emitted depend on the number of free electrons passing through the lamp" is False.
• When a free electron hits an atom, the atom is not always excited to the highest energy level possible. It depends on the energy of the free - electron. So "When a free electron hits an atom, the atom is always excited to the highest energy level possible" is False.
• When atomic electrons are excited to a higher level, they do not always return to their lowest energy level by jumping down one level at a time. They can make non - sequential jumps. So "When atomic electrons are excited to a higher level, they always return to their lowest energy level by jumping down one level at a time" is False.
• Once excited, electrons can jump down to different energy levels, not only directly to energy level 1. So "Once excited, electrons can only jump down directly to energy level 1" is False.

Step3: Analyze hydrogen atom spectrum

For a hydrogen atom, in the visible portion of the spectrum, 4 lines appear (Balmer series: red, blue - green, blue, and violet). The colors are not of the same intensity because the probability of electrons transitioning between different levels is different, and the intensity of the spectral line is related to the number of electrons making that particular transition.

Answer:

a. The color of the squiggle changes as the energy difference between the two electron levels changes.
b.
False Photons are emitted as electrons in the atom jump up in energy.
False The colors emitted depend on the number of free electrons passing through the lamp.
False When a free electron hits an atom, the atom is always excited to the highest energy level possible.
False When atomic electrons are excited to a higher level, they always return to their lowest energy level by jumping down one level at a time.
False Once excited, electrons can only jump down directly to energy level 1.

1. a. 4 lines appear in the visible portion of the spectrum. The colors are not of the same intensity because the probability of electrons making different transitions is different.