PHY-E-313: Atomic and Molecular Spectroscopy

Tutorial / Exercise

1. The absorbance of some unknown solution having a concentration Cx is Ax. What will
be the value of absorbance in terms of Ax if the (a) path length is reduced by one half,
and (b) path length is doubled?
2. Light of wavelength 400 nm is passed through a cell of 1 mm path length containing
10-3 mol dm-3 of compound A. if the absorbance of this solution is 0.25, calculate the
molar absorption coefficient and the transmittance.
3. Calculate the momentum of a photon whose wavenumber is 20 cm−1.
4. For temperatures of 25 °C and 1000 °C, calculate the ratio of molecules in a typical
excited rotational, vibrational and electronic energy level to that in the lowest energy
level, assuming that the levels are 30 cm−1, 1000 cm−1, and 40,000 cm−1, respectively,
above the lowest energy level. Assume that, for the excited rotational level, the
rotational quantum number J is 4, and that each level is (2 J + 1)-fold degenerate, i.e.,
gJ = 2 J + 1. Assume that the vibrational and electronic levels are non-degenerate.
5. An atom emits a photon with wavelength λ = 700 nm while decaying from an excited
state to the ground state.
(a) Express the energy of the photon in eV.
(b) The lifetime of the excited state τ = 7 ns. Estimate the uncertainty ΔE in the energy
of the photon (in eV).
(c) What is the spectral line-width (in wavelength) of the photon?

6. The following data were collected for a voltage measurement, in mV, on a noisy
system: 1.25, 1.74, 1.33, 1.97, 1.10, 1.27, 1.54, 1.62.
(a) Assuming the noise is random, what is the signal-to-noise ratio?
(b) How many measurements would have to be averaged to increase S/N to 10?

7. What is the speed (f-number) of a lens with a diameter of 5.2 cm and a focal length of
15.6 cm?
8. Show that if an electron is accelerated through V volts then the deBroglie wavelength
150
in angstroms is given by 𝜆 = √ 𝑉
.
9. Calculate the wavelength in nm of electrons which have been accelerated from rest
through a potential difference of 54V.
10. Calculate the wavelengths of the first four lines of the Lyman series of the positronium
on the basis of the simple Bohr’s theory
11. In which transition of hydrogen atom is the wavelength of 486.1 nm produced? To
which series does it belong?
12. A hydrogen-like ion has the wavelength difference between the first lines of the Balmer
and Lyman series equal to 16.58 nm. What ion is it?
13. The wavelength of the Kα line in iron (Z = 26) is known to be 193 pm. Then what
would be the wavelength of the Kα line in copper (Z = 29)?
14. An X-ray tube has nickel as target. If the wavelength difference between the Kα line
and the short-wave cut-off wavelength of the continuous X-ray spectrum is equal to 84
pm, what is the voltage applied to the tube?
15. When the voltage applied to an X-ray tube increases from 10 to 20 kV the wavelength
difference between the Kα line and the short-wave cut-off of the continuous X-ray
spectrum increases by a factor of 3.0. Identify the target material.
16. How many elements have the Kα lines between 241 and 180 pm?
17. The Kα line has a wavelength λ for an element with atomic number Z = 19. What is the
atomic number of an element which has a wavelength λ/4 for the Kα line?
18. An atomic transition line with wavelength 350 nm is observed to be split into three
components, in a spectrum of light from a sun spot. Adjacent components are separated
by 1.7 pm. Determine the strength of the magnetic field in the sun spot.
19. Calculate the energy spacing between the components of the ground state energy level
of hydrogen when split by a magnetic field of 1.0 T. What frequency of electromagnetic
radiation could cause a transition between these levels? What is the specific name given
to this effect.

A) Try to solve the unsolved problems of first chapter of Fundamentals of Molecular

Spectroscopy by C. N. Banwell.

B) PHY-C-107: Atomic and Molecular Physics- Tutorial 1 to 4.