GEN CHEM (CLEAR) - 6.1-6.4 Key Terms

electronic structure

how the electrons are arranged within the atom; can be studied in light interactions

electromagnetic radiation

another name for light energy (visible or not); moves at 2.998 x 10⁸ m/s

wavelength

measured from peak to peak (top to top) or trough to trough (bottom to bottom)

frequency

how many peaks (or troughs) pass a certain point in a second

quantized

specific; opposite of spectrum

quantum of energy

the lowest possible quantity of light that an object can lose/gain; is related to the frequency

Planck constant

represented by the letter h; is used to find the quanta of an object; equals 6.626 x 10^-34 J-s

Photoelectric effect

studied by Einstein; explains how different metals emit different amounts of electrons when exposed to different light

photons

"units" of light; their existence was proposed by Einstein after studying the photoelectric effect; contain quantized energy

spectrum

contains all the light given off by a substance

continuous spectrum

contains all colors/shades/wavelengths of light; they all bleed into each other

line spectrum

only contains some colors/wavelengths; are usually found independent of each other

principle quantum number

a specific set of quanta represented by the letter n; represents the "shell" or "level" an electron is on

ground state

when n=1; is the lowest energy state

excited state

when n>1; has higher energy than ground state

theory of matter waves

indicated that everything has wave-like qualities; proposed by De Broglie; proved by diffraction

momentum

speed (velocity) propelled/dragged by mass (mv); can be used to determine a substance's wavelength

Heisenburg’s uncertainty principle

acknowledges that since particles are always moving and not always in a constant manner, it is impossible to pinpoint a single particle's position or momentum