Asked by: Emely Beltrami
Asked in category: science, physics
Last Updated: 25th Apr 2024

How are atomic spectra created using the terms ground or excited?

Photons are produced when electrons move from one higher energy level to another. This is visible in the spectrum. In the ground energy level, an atom is at its lowest level. An electron that is not in the most energetic orbit possible is called excited.



This being said, how are atomic spectra created?

When excited electrons return back to their ground state, they produce atomic emission spectra. The emission of energy is produced when electrons return to a lower level of energy.

How does the Bohr model also explain atomic spectrum? Niels Bohr explained how the line spectrum of hydrogen atom was created by the assumption that electrons move in circular orbits, and that only certain radius orbits were permitted. The ground state of an atom was the closest orbit to its nucleus. It is the most stable orbit. Orbits further away are higher-energy excited states.

It is also important to understand why a line spectra forms when an atom emits light after it has been excited.

An electron is promoted to a higher energy level and an atom, element, or molecule is called to be in an excited state. Emission lines are when electrons from an excited atom, element, or molecule move between different energy levels and return to the ground state.

What was the result of studying the emission spectra for atoms?

The atom was created using quantum theory.