Chapter 11: Introduction to Modern Atomic Theory

On the 4th of July the fireworks that are explodes we are always excited about the beautiful colors the fireworks produce. The colors are produced by metal atoms.

When scientist's in the early 1900's looked at the light given off by these metals they discovered an interesting characteristic of the light spectrum. The light emitted was limited to only particular wavelengths.

Scientists also investigated the light given off by excited hydrogen atoms. The light given off by excited hydrogen atoms was not a continuous spectrum but a discrete, line spectrum. That is, the light given off by hydrogen atoms only contained a few lines! Scientist's concluded from this observation that only certain energies could be released from a hydrogen atom.

What is going on? How can this happen?

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