What property of atoms causes line emission (and absorption)?
This is part of Week 9 lecture (Planks basic quantum theory) (a) if an e- can have any energy, then it could undergo an infinite number of energy changes. That is, it could emit or absorb light of any energy/wavelength. Its spectrum would be a continuous spectrum. (b) If the e- were limited to only certain energies, then it could absorb/emit only certain energies of light as it moved between those energy levels. Its spectrum would be a line spectrum. 4.43 Probability in three dimension A sphere would be a good 3D figure to represent the probability distribution in Figure 4.25(b). The figure itself is just a cross section of a spherical shape. You have to keep in mind that the sphere would not fully represent the distribution. That is, the probability of finding an e- around the nucleus is higher near the nucleus than at the edge of the sphere. 4.46 What is the effect of nuclear charge on the potential energy? This will be discussed in Week 10 lecture. Coulombs Law (see p.88) says that
