By conservation of linear momentum an atom recoils after it de-excites by giving out a photon. The de-excitation energy is shared by the photon and the recoiling atom. There was no mention in textbooks of this recoil energy when discussing atomic line spectra. We illustrate why it is valid to assume that the de-excitation energy is the energy of the emitted photon in line spectra around the visible light region.
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Ker Liang Goh (2024) studied this question.
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