Waves and the Atom

• Photon


  A particle of light, are quantized (carry specific amount of energy)
• Quanta

  Small discrete packet of energy, quantity / specific amounts of energy
• Planck's quantum theory

  E=hf, h=Planck's constant
• Light


  • Has a transverse wave form
• Frequency


  Number of waves which move past a point in space every second (f)
• Planck's quantum theory: E(real) = hf
• E(photon) = 6.626×10^-34 * f
• c = 3×10^8 m/s (speed of light)
• Steps to find energy of photon

  1. Find frequency

  2. Use E=hf to find energy in Joules

  3. Convert energy to eV
• To move electrons between shells, they require energy provided by a photon
• Photons of specific frequencies will be absorbed by the electron
• When an electron moves from ground state to excited state, it absorbs a photon
• When an electron moves from excited state to ground state, it emits a photon
• n=1 shell energy = -13.6 eV
• n=4 shell energy = -3.4 eV
• n=5 shell energy = -0.85 eV
• Energy to jump from n=1 to n=4 = 12.75 eV