A spectroscope takes in light and breaks it into their own individual wavelengths, which are the colored lines we see. The light was produced by electrons, which each have their own quantum, or energy level. When we run a current through the atom, the electron gains energy and jumps to a higher level to its excited state. When they fall back to their ground state, they release their stored energy through the form of light. The line spectra for different atoms differ because they each have a different amount of electrons which jump to different energy levels, therefore producing their own unique blend of color. The lines in the spectra differ in brightness because electrons have a quantized amount of energy, which determines the brightness of
