chemistry (physics) help!?

Question

observed lines when hydrogen is excited in a discharge tube (using a prism), we see violet, blue-green, and red as the brightest and some other very dim colors.
the question is:
can you think of one or more likely explanations of the origin of the variation in the observed intensity of the colors?

thanks!

Answer 1

See some quantum electron energy levels with sublevels between them


--B--------------------------
-------------------------------
===============level 3^
----------------------------
------------------------
---C---------------------
-------D----------------
------------------------
=======E======level 2 ^
-----------------------
------------------------
-----------------------
------------------------
-----------------------
A=========F== level 1 ^

consider an electron starting at A, it may become excited to any position BCDE and others. It releases energy in various manners to get back down to F. Sometiems it transfers as heat, such as in D to E. Sometimes it emits light as in E to F. It may however emit light from B to F, which is higher energy and differnt color light. Maybe this is less common and so you see less magnitute.

Answer 2

When an element is ionized into a plasma, its electrons get promoted to higher energy levels and eventually fall back to their ground state. This generates a photon and its wavelength is porportional to the amount of energy lost as the electron returned to its ground state. An electron can be promoted to any of a number of higher energy levels, but each element has a unique pattern of electron promotion and photon generation. Hydrogen has much of its spectrum in a red band of light because this is the energy level that the majority of its excited electrons occupy. There are a number of weaker bands but these represent energy levels which are filled far less frequently and hence, produce many fewer photons at these wavelengths. The existance of these characteristic spectral lines was one of the primary tools of chemists discovering new elements, especially the rare earth series. If a substance was ionized and a new band appeared, it was a sure indication the substance (or "earth") contained a new form of matter.

Answer 3

okay, this is partly from memory and partly from common sense. When hydrogen is excited, the electron in it goes to higher energy orbitals (gains energy). This state is unstable. When the electrons jump back to the ground state, they release energy, whose equivalent photonic frequency falls in the visible spectrum. (E = hf)
Now, due to quantum mechanics, there are fixed energy levels allowed for the electrons, hence only a particular set of colors is visible. Also, the some electrons get more excited, some less, and this variation causes different colors.

Answer 4

Think about what causes these distinct lines from the discharge tube. Why would some be more intense than others?