A certain material is kept at very low temperature. It is observed that when photons with energies between 0.2 and 0.9 eV strike the material, only photons of 0.4 eV and 0.7 eV are absorbed. Next, the material is warmed up so that it starts to emit photons. When it has been warmed up enough that 0.7 eV photons begin to be emitted, what other photon energies are also observed to be emitted by the material? Explain briefly.

Short Answer

Expert verified

0.3 eV , 0.4 , and 0.7 eV

Step by step solution

01

Identification of the given data

The given data is listed below as,

  • The energies of the photons are 0.2eVand0.9eV.
  • The energies of the absorbed photons are 0.4eVand0.7eV.
  • The energy of the photons when emitted from the warmed material is0.7eV.
02

Significance of the law of Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution

The law of Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution states that energy distribution occurs only between the distinguishable and the identical particles.

The Maxwell-Boltzmann law gives the photon energies that are to be emitted by the material.

03

Determination of the photon energies emitted by the material

The detected lines of absorption at the energy of0.4eVand0.7eV provides the position of the “first two states of energy” that is relative to the ground state. However, the absorbed photons take electrons from the ground state to different excited states.

While heating up the material, the electrons gain energy to move from the ground state to the other excited states and when the electrons come back to the ground states, the electrons emit photons.

As the law of Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution is mainly continuous, that shows some electrons will go to the first excited state that is0.4eV and some electrons will also go from the first to the second excited state that is 0.3eV.

Thus, the photon energies observed to be emitted by the material are0.3eV,04eVand0.7eV.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

A bottle contains a gas with atoms whose lowest four energy levels are -12eV, -6eV, -3eV, and -2eV. Electrons run through the bottle and excite the atoms so that at all times there are large numbers of atoms in each of these four energy levels, but there are no atoms in higher energy levels. List the energies of the photons that will be emitted by the gas.

Next, the electron beam is turned off, and all the atoms are in the ground state. Light containing a continuous spectrum of photon energies from 0.5eVto 15eVshines through the bottle. A photon detector on the other side of the bottle shows that some photon energies are depleted in the spectrum (“dark lines”). What are the energies of the missing photons?

Energy graphs: (a) Figure 8.41 shows a graph of potential energy vs. interatomic distance for a particular molecule. What is the direction of the associated force at location A? At location B? At location C? Rank the magnitude of the force at locations A,B and C. (That is, which is greatest , which is smallest, and are any of these equal to each other?) For the energy level shown on the graph, draw a line whose height is the kinetic energy when the system is at location D.

(b) Figure 8.42 shows all of the quantized energies (bound states) for one of these molecules. The energy for each state is given on the graph, in electron volts ( 1eV=1.6×1019J). How much energy is required to break a molecule apart, if it is initially in the ground state? (Note that the final state must be an unbound state; the unbound states are not quantized.)

(c) At high enough temperatures, in a collection of these molecules there will be at all times some molecules in each of these states, and light will be emitted. What are the energies in electron volts of the emitted light?

(d) The "inertial" mass of the molecule is the mass that appears in Newton's second law, and it determines how much acceleration will result from applying a given force. Compare the inertial mass of a molecule in the ground state and the inertial mass of a molecule in an excited state10eV above the ground state. If there is a difference, briefly explain why and calculate the difference. If there isn't a difference, briefly explain why not.)

Suppose we have reason to suspect that a certain quantum object has only three quantum states. When we excite such an object we observe that it emits electromagnetic radiation of three different energies: 2.48eV(green), 1.91eV(orange), and 0.57eV(infrared). (a) Propose two possible energy-level schemes for this system. (b) Explain how to use an absorption measurement to distinguish between the two proposed schemes.


Assume that a hypothetical object has just four quantum states, with the following energies:

-1.0eV(third excited state)

-1.8eV(second excited state)

-2.9eV(first excited state)

-4.8eV(ground state)

(a) Suppose that material containing many such objects is hit with a beam of energetic electrons, which ensures that there are always some objects in all of these states. What are the six energies of photons that could be strongly emitted by the material? (In actual quantum objects there are often “selection rules” that forbid certain emissions even though there is enough energy; assume that there are no such restrictions here.) List the photon emission energies. (b) Next, suppose that the beam of electrons is shut off so that all of the objects are in the ground state almost all the time. If electromagnetic radiation with a wide range of energies is passed through the material, what will be the three energies of photons corresponding to missing (“dark”) lines in the spectrum? Remember that there is hardly any absorption from excited states, because emission from an excited state happens very quickly, so there is never a significant number of objects in an excited state. Assume that the detector is sensitive to a wide range of photon energies, not just energies in the visible region. List the dark-line energies.

Some material consisting of a collection of microscopic objects is kept at a high temperature. A photon detector capable of detecting photon energies from infrared through ultraviolet observes photons emitted with energies of0.3eV,0.5eV,0.8eV,2,0eV,2.5eV,and2.8eV. These are the only photon energies observed. (a) Draw and label a possible energy-level diagram for one of the microscopic objects, which has four bound states. On the diagram, indicate the transitions corresponding to the emitted photons. Explain briefly. (b) Would a spring–mass model be a good model for these microscopic objects? Why or why not? (c) The material is now cooled down to a very low temperature, and the photon detector stops detecting photon emissions. Next, a beam of light with a continuous range of energies from infrared through ultraviolet shines on the material, and the photon detector observes the beam of light after it passes through the material. What photon energies in this beam of light are observed to be significantly reduced in intensity (“dark absorption lines”)? Explain briefly.

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