The emission spectrum of sodium is dominated by two emission lines at 589.0 and 589.6 nm.
PHYSICS · Multi-part · A Level · Physics · Particles and radiation · Particles and radiation
Problem
The emission spectrum of sodium is dominated by two emission lines at 589.0 and 589.6 nm.
(a) If these emission lines are the result of transitions from electron energy levels n=2 to n=1 , calculate the average energy difference between the electron energy level n=2 and the electron energy level n=1 .
(b) Suggest a reason why there are two emission lines, at two slightly different wavelengths, from this transition.