ASTR 114 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Rotational Energy, 30 Foot Fall, Blueshift
16 Feb 2017
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Document Summary
The atom is made of a nucleus of protons and neutrons, surrounded by a cloud of electrons. Atomic number: the number of protons in the nucleus. Atomic mass number: the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus. Example: carbon"s normal mass number is 12. Isotopes: same number of protons but different number of neutrons. Electrons in atoms are restricted to particular energy levels, either the ground state (lowest level) or one of their excited states. The only allowed changes in energy are those corresponding to a transition between energy levels. An electron can"t jump halfway between levels and stay there; unless it gets enough energy to get to the next level, it will stay at the one it"s at already. Continuous spectrum: a spectrum containing wavelengths without interruption. The spectrum of a lightbulb would be continuous on the spectrum of visible wavelengths. Emission line spectrum: a spectrum that contains wavelengths emitted only.
