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VoteSaxon
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Homework Statement
There is an electronic transition between the first energy state and the ground state of a neon atom, emitting a wavelength of 746nm. The question asks for the energy of the transition and an estimate of the fraction of atoms in a sample that is thermally excited at 300K.
Homework Equations
My guess:
E = hc/λ.
P(E) ∝ √E⋅e-E/kT
The Attempt at a Solution
So surely finding the energy is easy:
E = hc/λ = (6.63x10-34)(3x108)/(746x10-9) = 2.666x10-19 J ≈ 2.7x10-19 J
However, I have a feeling this is too simple and might be incorrect.
For the probability, I suppose you use the Boltzmann Distributuon:
P(E) ∝ √E⋅e-E/kT
∴P(E) ∝ 6.43x10-38
But this is probably just the probability of getting exactly the energy value above - what I really want (I think) is the probability of the energy being equal to or greater than the energy value calculated above, i.e. the probability of E ≥ 2.7x10-19 J
Can someone point me in the right direction, and tell me where I might have gone wrong?
Thanks.
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