A gas absorbs a photon of 355 nm and emits at two wavelengths. If one ...
A gas absorbs a photon of 355 nm and emits at two wavelengths. If one ...
Explanation:
- When a gas absorbs a photon, it gains energy and its electrons move to higher energy levels.
- When these electrons return to their original energy levels, they release the energy they gained in the form of photons.
- The energy of a photon is inversely proportional to its wavelength, so a higher energy photon has a shorter wavelength.
- In this problem, the gas absorbs a photon with a wavelength of 355 nm (shorter wavelength/higher energy) and emits at two wavelengths.
- One of the emissions is at 680 nm, which is a longer wavelength/lower energy than the absorbed photon.
- To find the other emission wavelength, we can use the fact that the energy gained by the gas is equal to the sum of the energies of the emitted photons.
- We can calculate the energy of the absorbed photon using the equation E = hc/λ, where E is energy, h is Planck's constant, c is the speed of light, and λ is wavelength.
- Plugging in the values, we get E = (6.626 x 10^-34 J s)(3 x 10^8 m/s)/(355 x 10^-9 m) = 5.58 x 10^-19 J.
- The energy of the emitted photon at 680 nm can be calculated using the same equation, giving E = (6.626 x 10^-34 J s)(3 x 10^8 m/s)/(680 x 10^-9 m) = 2.92 x 10^-19 J.
- The energy of the second emitted photon is then the difference between the absorbed energy and the energy of the first emitted photon: E = 5.58 x 10^-19 J - 2.92 x 10^-19 J = 2.66 x 10^-19 J.
- To find the wavelength of this photon, we can rearrange the energy equation to λ = hc/E and plug in the values: λ = (6.626 x 10^-34 J s)(3 x 10^8 m/s)/(2.66 x 10^-19 J) = 743 nm.
- Therefore, the correct answer is option D, 743 nm.