Why does the emission spectrum of a helium atom differ from that of a hydrogen atom?

It is mainly because the helium atom has more electrons than a hydrogen atom. Therefore, more electrons get excited when we pass a white light beam through a helium sample, and it causes the emission of more spectral lines.

What is the emission spectrum of the hydrogen atom?

The emission spectrum of atomic hydrogen has been divided into a number of spectral series, with wavelengths given by the Rydberg formula. These observed spectral lines are due to the electron making transitions between two energy levels in an atom.

How the emission spectrum of an atom provides evidence for the existence of atomic energy levels?

Spectral lines give evidence of electrons moving from one energy level to another within the atom. Successive ionisations of an atom suggest that there are energy shells with large energy differences between them.

What does the emission spectrum of the hydrogen atom reveal about its energy levels?

Hydrogen molecules are first broken up into hydrogen atoms (hence the atomic hydrogen emission spectrum) and electrons are then promoted into higher energy levels. Suppose a particular electron is excited into the third energy level. It would tend to lose energy again by falling back down to a lower level.

What is the emission spectrum of helium?

The emission spectrum of helium-like ions, the Heα spectrum, is frequently used as the central tool to diagnose astrophysical photoionized plasmas. These plasmas are characterized by having a low electron temperature (Te < 50 eV), but nevertheless consist of highly ionized species.

Would you expect the emission spectrum of helium to have the same number of lines in the same colors as that of hydrogen?

Helium has more spectral emission lines than hydrogen does. Hydrogen emitted 3 visible emission lines: red, blue and violet. Helium showed 7 emission lines: two red, yellow, two green, indigo, and violet. The difference in emission lines are caused by the fact that helium has more electrons than hydrogen does.

What is the difference between continuous spectrum and line spectrum?

Summary – Continuous Spectrum vs Line Spectrum The key difference between continuous spectrum and line spectrum is that the continuous spectrum contains all the wavelengths in a given range whereas the line spectrum contains only a few wavelengths.

Why are emission spectra different for different elements?

Different elements have different spectra because they have different numbers of protons, and different numbers and arrangements of electrons. The differences in spectra reflect the differences in the amount of energy that the atoms absorb or give off when their electrons move between energy levels.

Why do different atoms have different lines in their spectra?

The lines in the spectra occur at wavelengths corresponding to photon energies exactly equal to the spacing of two energy levels in the emitting or absorbing atom. Different atoms have different lines because the spacings of their energy levels are different.

How does the emission spectrum support the idea of quantized energy levels?

When those atoms are given energy, the electrons absorb the energy and move to a higher energy level. These energy levels of the electrons in atoms are quantized, meaning again that the electron must move from one energy level to another in discrete steps, rather than continuously.