alleryStart learning →Each emission line from a gas consists of a single wavelength, which implies the emitted light has:
ANo measurable energy at all
BRandomly varying energies
CA set of discrete energies
DA continuous energy range
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. A set of discrete energies
1. A continuous spectrum would show every wavelength blending into the next.
2. An emission spectrum instead shows sharp separate lines.
3. Each emission line consists of a single wavelength of light, which implies that the light emitted by a gas consists of a set of discrete energies.
4. That discreteness is the experimental fingerprint of quantised energy levels.
_Source: OpenStax Chemistry 2e (CC BY 4.0), Ch 6 'Electronic Structure and Periodic Properties of Elements', sections 6.1-6.5_
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