Question

Consider Potassium atoms in a flame atomizer. The 4s to 40transition has a spectral doublet at 766 nm. (nominal - average ofall 4p states)

1. What is meant by the term "doublet" in the description, and whydoes this occur in potassium?
2. Calculate the ratio of atoms in the 4p states (all three) tothose is the 4s state for a flame temperature of 2800K
3. Potassium can be determined by flame-AES or flame-AAS, but thesignal in Flame-AES is very noisy. Explain why this is so and alsowhy ICP-AES acheives a less noisy signal.