The main difference between continuous spectrum and line spectrum is that
line spectra can be seen as either isolated emission lines or absorption lines
, with huge gaps between them, whereas continuous spectra do not contain gaps and can be produced by superimposing the emission and absorption spectra of the same …
What is the major difference between a continuous spectrum and a bright line spectrum?
Summary – Continuous Spectrum vs Bright Line Spectrum
Therefore, the key difference between a continuous spectrum and a bright line spectrum is that
there are no discrete lines in a continuous spectrum
, whereas there are separate lines in a bright line spectrum.
How is a continuous spectrum different from a line spectrum?
A continuous spectrum is represented by a
rainbow of colors and multiple wavelengths
while a line spectrum is only a few colors and very few wavelengths. The lines on a spectrum are determined by the movement of electrons in energy levels.
Why is line spectrum not continuous?
Quick answer: Atomic spectra are continuous
because the energy levels of electrons in atoms are quantized
. The electrons in an atom can have only certain energy levels. … Each packet of energy corresponds to a line in the atomic spectrum. There is nothing between each line, so the spectrum is discontinuous.
What does a continuous spectrum do?
A continuous spectrum contains
many different colors, or wavelengths, with no gaps
. Perfectly white light shined through a prism causes dispersion of the light, and we see a rainbow. … Looking at absorption and emission spectra can tell you what elements are present in stars like the sun and other gasses.
What is an example of a continuous spectrum?
Continuous Spectrum.
A rainbow
is an example of a continuous spectrum. Here, the colors displayed are within the visible spectrum (between 380-760 nm). Light in this wavelength range is visible to the naked eye.
Which spectrum is continuous?
solids is said
to be continuous because all wavelengths are present. The spectrum of incandescent gases, on the other hand, is called a line spectrum because only a few wavelengths are emitted. These wavelengths appear to be a series of parallel lines because a slit is used as the light-imaging…
What does line spectrum mean?
:
an optical spectrum more or less separated into sharply defined regions
—used especially of atomic spectra.
How is a continuous spectrum formed?
Continuous spectra (also called thermal or blackbody spectra)
arise from dense gases or solid objects which radiate heat
. They emit radiation over a broad range of wavelengths, thus the spectra appear smooth and continuous.
Why does an element generate a bright line spectrum and not a continuous spectrum?
Atoms of individual
elements emit light at only specific wavelengths
, producing a line spectrum rather than the continuous spectrum of all wavelengths produced by a hot object. … Transitions from an excited state to a lower-energy state resulted in the emission of light with only a limited number of wavelengths.
What else does a line spectrum tell us?
From spectral lines astronomers can determine not only the element, but the temperature and density of that element in the star. The spectral line also can tell us
about any magnetic field of the star
. The width of the line can tell us how fast the material is moving. We can learn about winds in stars from this.
What is the classic continuous spectrum?
The classical example of a continuous spectrum, from which the name is derived, is
the part of the spectrum of the light emitted by excited atoms of hydrogen that is due to free electrons becoming bound to a hydrogen ion and emitting photons, which are smoothly spread over a wide range of wavelengths
, in contrast to …
Is the sun a continuous spectrum?
The full electromagnetic spectrum. The spectrum of
the Sun appears as a continuous spectrum
and is frequently represented as shown below. … In the case of the Sun, light is emitted at almost all energies in the visible spectrum, which is why you see all of the colors in the Sun’s spectrum.
How do you know if a light is continuous or discrete?
Typically one can observe two distinctive classes of spectra: continous and discrete. For a continuous spectrum, the light is composed of
a wide, continuous range of colors
(energies). With discrete spectra, one sees only bright or dark lines at very distinct and sharply-defined colors (energies).
What type of light gives a continuous spectrum?
An incandescent light bulb
produces a continuous spectrum because the source of the light is a metal filament (wire).
What does a absorption spectrum look like?
Absorption lines are usually seen as
dark lines, or lines of reduced intensity, on a continuous spectrum
. This is seen in the spectra of stars, where gas (mostly hydrogen) in the outer layers of the star absorbs some of the light from the underlying thermal blackbody spectrum.
