Question

If an atom contained only four energy levels, how many possible different emission lines could it emit?

a. 4
b. 5
c. 6
d. 7

Answer 1

The number of possible different emission lines that an atom with four energy levels can emit is 6, following the formula N(N-1)/2.

Step-by-step explanation:

If an atom contained only four energy levels, the number of possible different emission lines it could emit can be calculated using the formula N(N-1)/2, where N is the number of energy levels. In this case, N equals 4, so the calculation would be 4(4-1)/2, which simplifies to 4*3/2, giving us a total of 6 possible emission lines. The correct answer is c. 6.