Atomic Emission Spectra and the Bohr Model

Question

5. Which Bohr diagram shown above represents the purple band seen in the hydrogen emission spectra (below)? The red band? The blue band? The blue-green band? Explain how you know.

6. A single atom of hydrogen cannot produce all four spectral lines simultaneously as hydrogen only has one electron. How then is it possible that a hydrogen lamp can emit all these colors simultaneously?

7. Using the terms excited state, ground state, absorption and emission of energy describe how electrons cause specific spectral lines according to the Bohr model.

Answer 1

1. Question 5 can't be answered without the "Bohr diagram shown" information. It is not shown.
2. Question 6. A hydrogen lamp contains a very very large number of hydrogen atoms. So each atom can at any time be giving off light off one of these 4 colors and together we will get all 4 colors at the same time.
3. Question 7. At lower energy the Hydrogen atom is at it's lowest (Ground) state. As an atom gains energy the electrons can be moved up into higher orbits, they now have more energy. These electrons are now in an excited state. If they fall down to a lower orbit they will give off that specific amount of energy (specific color of light) in what is called and emission. Why specific, because the orbits they can be in are also of specific energy only. If light passes though the Hydrogen gas it can be removed (absorption) by moving electrons into higher orbits, again only very specific colors of light can do this. Planets can go around a star at any distance but electrons can only go around the center of an atom at very limited (specific) distances.