Principle
Electron shells of metal atoms in the gas phase can be elevated
to an excited state by light. If light is passed through the metal
vapour, various lines will be absent from its spectrum afterwards.
These lines correspond to the energy levels of those electrons in
the metal vapour which have been excited by the light. Spectra such
as this are called absorption spectra. This experiment investigates
absorption spectra of the following metals: strontium, barium,
calcium, sodium, lithium, potassium, platinum, cobalt and
magnesium.
Tasks
Record the absorption spectra of the metal salts and calculate
the wavelengths
λ.
What you can learn about
- Bohr atom
- Absorption bands
- Electron gas