Warm Up

The compound silver nitrate (AgNO3)

contains 63.50% silver (Ag). If silver
costs exactly $12.60/oz, what is the
total value of silver in 125.00 grams of
silver nitrate? How many grams of
silver nitrate contain exactly one (1)
dollar’s worth of silver?
 Let there be…

Li gh t!
 Light
• The study of light led to the development of
the quantum mechanical model.
• Light is a kind of electromagnetic radiation.
• Electromagnetic radiation includes many kinds
of waves.
• All waves move at 3.00 x 108 m/s (abbreviated
with a “c”) when in a vacuum (actually 2.9979
x 108 m/s).
 Parts of a Wave
Crest

Wavelength
(λ )

Amplitude
Origin

Trough
 Frequency
• The number of waves that pass a
given point per second.
• Units are cycles/sec or hertz (hz)
• Abbreviated with the Greek letter nu
(ν)
 Frequency & Wavelength
• Are inversely related
• As one goes up the other goes down.

c=λ ν
• Different frequencies are different colors of
light.
• There is a wide variety of frequencies.
• The whole range is called the spectrum
 Practice
What is the wavelength of radiation
whose frequency is 1.50x10 /s?15

Is this longer or shorter than red light?

My favorite AM radio station is

1150kHz. What is the wavelength of
this station?
Introducing Mr. Maxwell
Planck
 Max Planck (1858 – 1947)
• Prevailing ideas were that matter was
composed of particles and energy in the form
of light was a wave.
• Studying radiation profiles emitted by solid
bodies heated to incandescence, Plank found
that the results could NOT BE EXPLAINED
with the assumption that matter could absorb
or emit any quantity of energy.
• Planck studied Blackbody radiation for the
answers.
 Blackbody Radiation
• When a solid or liquid object is heated
they will emit light. A toaster or oven
heating element or even a tungsten light is
an example. This is blackbody radiation.
• It was known that the frequencies of
vibrating atoms in a heated object were
responsible for the emitted radiation, but
Classical physics was not able to explain
the distribution of frequencies.
 Quantization
Max Planck observed that energy emitted by hot
objects only had certain wavelengths.
Instead of light of any energy, only
photons at integer multiples of
a small packet of energy ever
were found.
This minimum packet size was found to be

∆ E=nhν
6.626 x 10-34 Js,
which is now known as
Planck’s constant and
has the symbol, h.
Introducing Mr. Albert
Einstein
 The Photoelectric Effect
It was determined experimentally that light
shining on a metal surface will eject electrons
from the metal surface.

The results will differ as to whether or not light

is a particle or a wave, which we will see in a
minute.
 The Photoelectric Effect
• Light, although thought of as a wave, didn’t behave as
if it was a wave in this experiment.
• A photoemissive surface would release electrons only
if the light was at or above a specific minimum
frequency.
• The intensity or strength of the incident light did not
affect the maximum kinetic energy of the emitted
photoelectrons. However, the rate at which
photoelectrons were released did depend on the
intensity of light.
 The Photoelectric
Effect of light can be
Evidence for the quantization
seen in the photo electric effect.

Low energy light High energy light

produces no effect. ejects an electron
Even with increased Higher frequency
intensity ejects higher energy
electrons
+ + + +
+ + + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + +
 The Photoelectric Effect
• The maximum kinetic energy of the emitted
photoelectrons depended on the frequency of
the incident light (provided it was above the
minimum threshold frequency).
• None of these behaviors could be explained by
classical physics descriptions of light as a
wave.
 Albert Einstein (1879 –
1955)
• Albert Einstein proposed that electromagnetic
radiation can be viewed as a stream of
“particles” known as photons.
• Albert Einstein actually won the Nobel Prize
for his work on the photoelectric effect.
• In 1913 to 1914, R.A. Milliken did a series of
experiments that proved all of Einstein’s
theories!
 The Photoelectric Effect
• To conclude the photoelectric effect phenomenon…if light
was composed of photons whose energy was equal to hν,
then the energy level being dependent on frequency would
make sense of the whole thing!
• Higher frequency photons have more energy, so they should
make the electrons come flying out faster. In other words,
more energy would be transferred to them.
• Using higher intensity light should cause more electrons to
come flying out, and using very low frequency light then
none of the photons will have enough energy to knock out
an electron.
 Mr. Einstein, meet Mr.
Planck

c=ν λ
E=mc 2 ∆ E=nhν
c
ν = ___ E photon=hν
m= E
c2 λ Ephoton=hc
λ
 m= E Ephoton=hc
c2 λ
m= hc/
cλ2

m= h
cλ
• Does this mean that photons have mass?
– yes, in some sense, but only when it is moving
• But isn’t light a wave?
– yes, some times it is Huh?
 Wave/Particle Duality
Some times you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t.

Wave-Particle Duality
 Atomic
Spectrum
So how does color tell us about
atoms, I mean really, get on with
it! XD
 A Prism
• White light is made up
of all the colors of the
visible spectrum.
• Passing it through a
prism separates it
because the different
wavelengths bend at
different angles when
entering and leaving the
substance.
 If the light is not white
• By heating an element with
electricity or heat, a characteristic
color of light is given off. When
this light is passed through a
spectrum, there are distinct
wavelengths of light present and
nothing in between!
• This unique fingerprint, can be
used to identify elements present in
suns, other planets, unknown
samples, etc.
• mercury (Hg)

• sodium (Na)

• neon (Ne)
 Nothing bohring about Niels
Bohr
• In 1913, Niels Bohr developed a theoretical
explanation for the observed emission spectra
of the Hydrogen Atom.
• Bohr Assumed that electrons were orbiting the
nucleus and from classical physics, he
assumed that they traveled in a circular path
much like planets did around the sun.
• Bohr borrowed the idea of quantized energy
from our good friend Maxwell Planck.
 Niels Bohr
Bohr proposed that only orbits of certain radii,
corresponding to defined energies are
“permitted.”
An electron orbiting in one of these “orbits”
has…
1. A defined energy state.
2. Will not radiate energy
3. Will not spiral into the nucleus.
 Excited Energy States
If you add energy to an electron it can jump from one
energy level to another producing an excited state.

Ground State
H: 1st level Excited State
H: 2nd level

1
H
 Atomic Emission
A photon of light is emitted when the electron returns
to it’s ground state and releases the previous quantum
amount of energy absorbed.

Excited State Ground State

H: 2nd level H: 1st level

1
H
 There are many energy levels
and many transitions that
Balmercan
Series: occur
(visible) Paschen series:
(infrared)
Lyman Series:
(ultraviolet)

n =7 6 5 4 3 2 1
1
H
 Review: Bohr’s Model
Electrons exist in specific energy levels outside the
nucleus, can move from one level to another, and
occupy the “lowest” energy levels possible under
stable conditions.
When exposed to energy (electrical current, flame,
etc.), electrons absorb a quantum of energy and
move to an “excited” state. Energy is released in the
form of light when the electrons return to the
“ground” state.
The further an electron “jumps” the more energy is
absorbed or released when it returns to it’s ground
state.
 To Review: Light
Properties
• Light has a dual nature. It behaves as both a particle
and a wave. Electromagnetic radiation, which was
previously thought to exhibit only wave properties,
seems to show characteristics of particulate matter
as well and can be considered as a stream of
photons.
• Energy is quantized, it seems to occur only in
discrete units called quanta. Light energy depends
on it’s frequency as shown on the next slide.
 To Review: Energy is
Quantized
•The Quantum of Energy was equal to…
∆ E = nhν
E is the energy of the photon
ν (nu) is the frequency
h is Planck’s constant = 6.626 x 10 -34 Joule
sec
n is an integer (1, 2, 3, etc.)
•A Joule is the metric unit of Energy
 Review of Joules
• Energy is a force moving through a distance. Force is
equal to mass times acceleration. Therefore…
• Force = ma (mass times acceleration)
Acceleration = meter/s2
Mass is measured in kilograms…
• And so a Force = kilogram ⋅ meter/s2
Which, incidentally is called a Newton.
• Joule = Force times a distance
• Therefore, Joule = (kg ⋅ m2)/s2
• And now you have units for Energy! 
The End!!