Boundary continuum

The boundary continuum is a narrow, continuous range of energy that connects to the individual series with their discrete energy levels or spectral lines in the emission spectrum of an atom .

The appearance of this continuous, non-quantized area can be explained by looking at an ionized hydrogen atom , for example . A free electron , the kinetic energy of which can be within a narrow range, can be built into the atom. During the transition into one of the discrete energy states within the atom, a photon ( electromagnetic radiation), whose energy is composed of the sum of the energy difference of the individual atomic states and the original kinetic energy of the electron. Since the kinetic energy can cover a continuous area, the total energy of the radiation from this continuous area is superimposed and the boundary continuum is created.

See also

Atomic spectrum , spectroscopy

literature

• Hammer: Physik 13 Oldenbourg-Verlag, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-486-87567-1