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A spectral line may be observed either as an emission line or an absorption line. Which type of line is observed depends on the type of material and its temperature relative to another emission source. An absorption line is produced when photons from a hot, broad spectrum source pass through a cooler material.
The Fraunhofer lines are typical spectral absorption lines. Absorption lines are narrow regions of decreased intensity in a spectrum, which are the result of photons being absorbed as light passes from the source to the detector. In the Sun, Fraunhofer lines are a result of gas in the Sun's atmosphere and outer photosphere. These regions have ...
An emission spectrum is formed when an excited gas is viewed directly through a spectroscope. Schematic diagram of spontaneous emission. Emission spectroscopy is a spectroscopic technique which examines the wavelengths of photons emitted by atoms or molecules during their transition from an excited state to a lower energy state.
The absorption that occurs due to a transition between two states is referred to as an absorption line and a spectrum is typically composed of many lines. The frequencies at which absorption lines occur, as well as their relative intensities, primarily depend on the electronic and molecular structure of the sample.
The classical example of a discrete spectrum (for which the term was first used) is the characteristic set of discrete spectral lines seen in the emission spectrum and absorption spectrum of isolated atoms of a chemical element, which only absorb and emit light at particular wavelengths. The technique of spectroscopy is based on this phenomenon.
Spectral line shape or spectral line profile describes the form of an electromagnetic spectrum in the vicinity of a spectral line – a region of stronger or weaker intensity in the spectrum. Ideal line shapes include Lorentzian , Gaussian and Voigt functions, whose parameters are the line position, maximum height and half-width. [ 1 ]
The term principal came about because this series of lines is observed both in absorption and emission for alkali metal vapours. [2] Other series of lines appear in the emission spectrum only and not in the absorption spectrum, and were named the sharp series and the diffuse series based on the appearance of the lines. [3] [2]
The changes between these levels are called "transitions" and are plotted on the Jablonski diagram. Radiative transitions involve either the absorption or emission of a photon. As mentioned above, these transitions are denoted with solid arrows with their tails at the initial energy level and their tips at the final energy level.