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AP Physics 2
15.3 Emission and Absorption Spectra
IntermediateMCQDrawing RepresentationsConceptual17.9k
Energy-level diagram for the atomic gas.
Energy-level diagram for the atomic gas.
An energy-level diagram for a gas of hypothetical atoms is shown, featuring four discrete energy levels: ground state \(E_1\) and excited states \(E_2\), \(E_3\), and \(E_4\). At room temperature, the thermal kinetic energy of the atoms is much smaller than the excitation energy \(E_2 - E_1\). Continuous white light passes through the room-temperature gas to produce an absorption spectrum, while separately, atoms in a second sample are excited to state \(E_4\) to produce an emission spectrum. Which of the following claims correctly compares the number of spectral lines observed in each spectrum and provides the correct physical justification?

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