Physics 9702 · AS & A Level · Hubble's law and the Big Bang theory

Hubble's law and the Big Bang theory — practice question

Fig. 9.1 displays the visible portion of hydrogen gas’s emission spectrum in a laboratory on Earth. The labels show the wavelength, in nm, for each line.
(a(i))[3]

Explain how the emission spectrum gives evidence for the existence of discrete energy levels for the electron in a hydrogen atom.

(a(ii))[3]

Fig. 9.2 presents five of the energy levels in the hydrogen atom. The radiation wavelengths shown in Fig. 9.1 correspond to transitions to the $-3.400\,\text{eV}$ level in Fig. 9.2. Show that the energy level $X$ is $-1.51\,\text{eV}$.

(b(i))[1]

State the name of the effect responsible for the change in wavelength.

(b(ii))[1]

State what this effect shows about the motion of the galaxy.

(b(iii))[3]

Use one of the lines in Fig. 9.1 together with the matching line in Fig. 9.3 to find the speed of the distant galaxy relative to the observer.

(c)[2]

The galaxy in (b) is known to be a distance of $5.7 \times 10^{24}\,\text{m}$ from the Earth. Use your answer to part (b)(iii) to find a value for the Hubble constant $H_0$.

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