emission vs absorption

[Guzman_1J]

What does the emission spectrum tells us and how is this different from what the absorption spectrum shows? I'm a little confused about the emission spectrum, does it only work for the hydrogen element(since the lyman and Balmer series are just for hydrogen(?))?

[jisulee1C]

The absorption spectrum is when light has been absorbed by the atom thus you see a dip in the spectrum while emission spectra is when atoms releases photons that have certain wavelengths. Each element will have their own emission spectrum however, the Lyman and Balmer series is only applicable to hydrogen because when the model is applied to atoms with more than one electron, it is unable to correctly predict frequencies.

[Wilson 2E]

The emission and absorption spectra are essentially opposites of each other. The emission spectra will show the specific wavelengths given off, while the absorption spectra will show these specific wavelengths taken in by the atom. The wavelengths present in emission will be the ones absent in absorption.