Name: _______________________________
Date: ______________________________
Earth Science 11 – Analyzing Spectral Lines
***Use the attached sheet with spectral lines to help answer the questions on this sheet.
1. The light from distant stars is analyzed, and the following absorption lines are found in the spectrum.
Determine what element(s) are in each star. The number of elements is shown in brackets.
Star A = (1) Hydrogen
Star B = (2) Boron + Beryllium
Star C = (2) Hydrogen + Aluminum
Star D = (2) Potassium + Hydrogen
Star E = (2) Mercury + Boron
Star F = (2) Potassium + Oxygen
Name: _______________________________
Date: ______________________________
Star G = (2) Magnesium + Aluminum
2. Examine the spectrum of each star to determine its velocity.
a. What element is does the star contain?
b. Is it blueshifted or redshifted?
c. Is it moving toward us or away from us?
Element = _____________________________________
Blue/red shifted?
Moving toward or away?
Element = _____________________________________
Blue/red shifted?
Moving toward or away?
3. Draw the spectral lines for a star that contains hydrogen, boron, and beryllium. Colour them if you can,
otherwise label the colour of each line.
4. What kind of information can we get about a star by analyzing the spectral lines?
5. What do you notice about the spectral lines of lighter elements (like hydrogen, beryllium, boron) compared
to heavier elements (like magnesium and sodium)? Offer up an explanation of why they tend to be
different.
Name: _______________________________
Date: ______________________________