How Temperature Affects Atomic Spectroscopy

Temperature determines the degree to which a sample breaks down into atoms and the extent to which a given atom is found in its ground, excited, or ionized states. Each of these effects influences the strength of the signal we observe. 

The Boltzmann distribution describes the relative populations of different states al thermal equilibrium. If equilibrium exists (which is not true in the blue cone of a flame but is probably true above the blue cone), the relative population (N /N0) of any two states is 

The Boltzmann distribution applies to a system at thermal equilibrium. 

The lowest excited state of a sodium atom lies 3.371 X 10 19 J/atom above the ground state. 

The degeneracy of the excited state is 2, whereas that of the ground state is 1. The fraction of Na in the excited state in an acetylene-air flame at 2 600 K is, from Equation 21-2, 

A 10-K temperature rise changes the excited-state population by 4% in this example. 

How would the fraction of atoms in the excited state change if the temperature were 2 610 K instead  

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