Why is light emitted by elements when they are heated

Now the complicated bit. Because there are a lot of possible orbitals those electrons or that single electron in the case of a hydrogen atom, other atoms usually have more than one electron , there are a lot of possible transitions that can happen. But excited hydrogen atoms can crudely show emissions from any higher level to any lower level. So, because there are a lot of possible energy levels for electrons to occupy, there are a lot of possible colours of emission from even the simplest atom.

And most atoms have more than one electron so the options are even larger. Your simple intuition that the pattern of emission from other atoms would be easily explained is wrong. A lot of emission lines are well outside the visible so the lines you can actually see are not a good indicator for all the emissions that can happen. Even hydrogen with just one electron is complicated.

But the key idea is that there are many possible energy levels electrons can occupy and therefore many possible "colours" of emitted light. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top.

Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Why do atoms emit a certain colour of light? The emission spectra Ask Question. Asked 2 years, 8 months ago. Active 8 months ago. Viewed 9k times. Improve this question. Indeed, comparing the similarities of atoms was how the table was designed originally. Also, there needs to be certain attention to detail - e.

Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. As an example, this is what the spectrum for hydrogen looks like, which is broken up into a number of different spectral series : Image source Generally speaking, the emission spectra of most atoms cover roughly similar wavelength ranges, basically spreading over the visible range with substantial bleed over into the UV and infrared regions.

But you can still ask a very similar question, by inserting an appropriate plural: what determines the colours of light emitted? Improve this answer. Molecular Shapes. Molecular Vibrations. Gapminder Statistics - BMI. Oxidation-Reduction Reactions. Atoms and molecules can absorb and emit light, telling us how many different energy levels an electron has and how far apart the energy levels are spaced.

Different colors of light are associated with different photon energies. Essentially, a photon is a packet of light. For example, a photon of red light would have less energy than a photon of blue light. This ties in with wavelengths because red has longer wavelengths than blue which results in less energy. Electrons only exist in shells, the area around a nucleus.

Specific energy levels correspond to specific shells. In an atom, the amount of energy levels that are allowed depend on the structure of protons and electrons.

This also explains why each element produces a different atomic spectrum. Because each element has different acceptable energy levels for its electrons, the possible steps each element's electrons can take differ from all other elements. This page was constructed from content via the following contributor s and edited topically or extensively by the LibreTexts development team to meet platform style, presentation, and quality:. Learning Objectives Define an energy level in terms of the Bohr model.

Discuss how the Bohr model can be used to explain atomic spectra. Each Element Has a Unique Spectrum The light frequencies emitted by atoms are mixed together by our eyes so that we see a blended color. Bohr's Model of the Atom By , the concept of the atom had evolved from Dalton's indivisible spheres idea, to J. Energy Levels Bohr's key idea in his model of the atom is that electrons occupy definite orbitals that require the electron to have a specific amount of energy.

Bohr's Model and Atomic Spectra The evidence used to support Bohr's model came from the atomic spectra. Summary Bohr's model suggests each atom has a set of unchangeable energy levels, and electrons in the electron cloud of that atom must be in one of those energy levels. Bohr's model suggests that the atomic spectra of atoms is produced by electrons gaining energy from some source, jumping up to a higher energy level, then immediately dropping back to a lower energy level and emitting the energy difference between the two energy levels.

The existence of the atomic spectra is support for Bohr's model of the atom. Bohr's model was only successful in calculating energy levels for the hydrogen atom.

Vocabulary Emission spectrum or atomic spectrum - The unique pattern of light given off by an element when it is given energy. Energy levels - Possible orbits that an electron can have in the electron cloud of an atom. Ground state - To be in the lowest energy level possible. Excited state - To be in a higher energy level. Photon - A piece of electromagnetic radiation, or light, with a specific amount of energy.

Left on their own, the electrons of an atom tend to relax into orbitals that leave the atom with the lowest possible energy--its ground state. Putting atoms into a flame, though, adds energy to the looser electrons farthest from the nucleus and pushes them into other orbitals.

Eventually, these excited electrons drop back to where they ought to be, and in so doing, they release the energy they stored up as particles of light, called photons.

The color of the light emitted depends on the energies of the photons emitted, which are in turn are determined by the energies required to move electrons from one orbital to another. A flame has lots of different energies existing within it all the time, and every so often, it gets lucky and has the right quantity present to push an electron from one orbital to another.

When the electron drops back, it must release the same exact amount energy that it absorbed. Depending on the element you put in the flame, various different energies of photons colors will appear. Those colors are as distinctive to each element as fingerprints are to people.