PHOTON GAME GUIDED PRACTICE

You will use Game Board Version P for this Practice Round of the Photon Game

You must start with your electron (represented by a bead) on energy level one, which is the lowest energy state of the atom.

The lowest energy state possible in an atom is called the GROUND STATE.

To play this practice photon game, you will move your electron according to the instructions on the following slides.

Step 1: Go Directly to Level 5

Step 1: Go Directly to Level 5

Move your electron from level 1 to the dashed line marked n=5. Note that the energy value for level 5 is -100 kJ/mole.

A large input of energy would be required for this transition to occur in a real atom.

Since the electron has gone to a higher energy level, the atom is described as being in an EXCITED STATE.

Step 2:Drop One Level

Step 2:Drop One Level

Move your electron to the dashed line labeled n=4. Note that the energy value for this level is -250 kJ/mol.

Creating Photons

Your electron dropped from quantum level 5 to level 4 of the atom.

When an electron drops in energy from one quantum state to another, the atom must emit a PHOTON! The photon carries away the energy lost by the electron.

n = 4

n = 5e-

What Kind of Photon is Made?

What Kind of Photon is Made?

The difference in energy between level 5 and level 4 is 150 kJ/mole.

This corresponds to an Infrared photon!

Creating Photons

Draw an ARROW representing the creation of a photon.

Label the photon as “IR, 150 kJ/mol”

This arrow should be colored BLACK (or gray), because infrared light is invisible to your eye.

n = 5

n = 4

e-

IR, 150 kJ/mol

Shading the Photon Scoreboard

Color in the “Infrared” space on the Photon Scoreboard. Use a black (or gray) pencil, since Infrared photons will look black to the human eye.

Photon Color

Energy (kJ/mol)

Infrared <170

Red 170-190

Orange 191-210

Yellow 211-230

Step 3:Go to Level 1

Step 3:Go to Level 1

Another photon has been created! Draw an appropriate arrow in the well (label w/ kj/mol) and shade the appropriate box on your Photon Scoreboard.

Ultraviolet Photons (UV-A, UV-B, UV-C) are all BLACK. The term “black light” is used to describe ultraviolet lamps.

n = 2

n = 1

n = 3

n = 4

UV-C, 660 kJ/mol

Step 4:Placed In Bunsen Burner: Gain up to 500 Kilojoules/mole

Step 4:Placed In Bunsen Burner: Gain up to 500 Kilojoules/mole

This is your first decision in the Photon Game. From level 1, you can use the 500 kJ/mol provided by the flame to boost your electron to quantum level 2 (+260 kJ/mol) or to level 3 (+480 kJ/mol).

You should see that you would don’t have enough energy to reach level 4.

NO ARROW IS DRAWN WHEN YOU GAIN ENERGY

n = 2

n = 1

n = 3

n = 4?

?

e-

Step 5:Free Fall! You choose how far you

want to drop.

If your electron is on level 2, you have no choice but to drop to level 1. However, if your electron is on level 3, you may choose to drop to level 2 or to level 1!

Try to determine the color of photon produced in this drop.

Documenting Photon Production To show the color of

photon your atom has created, draw an arrow using a colored pencil as indicated in the diagram to the right.

Note: your electron made a particular drop—sketch the ONE arrow that corresponds to the drop your electron made!

n = 2

n = 1

n = 3

You should only draw an arrow in your energy well when you (as an individual) make a photon.

However, the Scoreboard color chart is shared with your partner. Therefore, the color chart records the team’s progress instead of just one individual’s progress.

Photon Color

Energy (kJ/mol)

Infrared <170

Red 170-190

Orange 191-210

Yellow 211-230

Green 231-250

Blue 251-270

How to Win the Photon Game Your ultimate goal in the Photon Game is to

have a completely shaded in Photon Scoreboard.

When completed, the photon color table should look like a rainbow of color flanked by zones of darkness.

When you and your partner have accomplished this, you should shout out “Rainbow!” (similar to the concept of “Bingo”).

If pressed for time, the practice round ends here.

Strategy Time

You should already have 3 or 4 different boxes shaded in on your Photon Scoreboard. Now select a visible color you haven’t yet made. Search for an electronic transition within the atom that will allow you to create the color you have chosen. (This means you must figure out which level to start on and which level to end on.)

You will find that certain colors are impossible to create with this gameboard! If you chose an impossible color (orange, green or violet), start the process over with a different color.

Arrows of Light

The electronic transitions resulting in visible photons for Version P are shown in the diagram at the right.

n = 4

n = 3

n = 2

n = 1

0 kJ/mol

On the previous slide, you planned out a transition that would create a certain color of photon. To actually make this photon would require two “lucky” steps.

First, the electron must gain enough energy to reach the desired “starting point”

Second, the electron must fall the right distance to provide the right amount of energy to create the desired photon.

This concludes the Photon Game Guided Practice.