I'm writing a program which generates the emission spectrum of an element with atomic number Z. To do this, I have used the equation: 1 λ = R ∞ Z 2 ( 1 n 1 2 − 1 n 2 2 ) Where n 1 is the number of the original energy level and n 2 is the number of the final energy level and where n 1 &gt; n 2 However, this does not calculate the intensity of the lines. Is there anyway to model the intensity using n 1 , n 2 and/or Z, assuming that the brightest line has an intensity of 1?

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I&#039;m writing a program which generates the emission spectrum of an element with atomic number Z. To do this, I have used the equation:      1    λ    =      R          ∞            Z    2        (          1              n        1        2              −          1              n        2        2              )  Where       n    1   is the number of the original energy level and       n    2   is the number of the final energy level and where       n    1    &amp;gt;      n    2  However, this does not calculate the intensity of the lines. Is there anyway to model the intensity using       n    1  ,       n    2   and/or   Z, assuming that the brightest line has an intensity of 1?

reflam2kfnr · Accepted Answer

The formula that you exhibit give the correct values for possible wavelengths for any &quot;hydrogen-like&quot; atoms—one with exactly one electron, meaning neutral hydrogen, singly ionized helium, double ionized lithium and so on. There is no formula for the wavelength of line associated with atoms that have more than one electron present (though there are computational results to high precision for a number of relatively light atoms).Nor is it possible to address the question of line strength without knowing something about the environment around the atoms, because an atom in splendid isolation doesn&#039;t have an emission spectrum: it has already decayed to the ground state and it just sits there.So you must invoke an understanding of the environment to work out how strongly various lines show up (or don&#039;t show up). In cool environments most atoms don&#039;t get excited and therefore don&#039;t emit. In hot enough environments they may tend to be fully ionized and it is the free-interaction spectrum that you see most. In between you get a range of different emission spectra from the same atom.

I'm writing a program which generates the emission spectrum of an element with atomic number Z. To d

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