WagenborgHydrogenSpectrumLabPage 1

Name(s)BillWagenborg
Chemistry511
TheHydrogenSpectrumLabReport
[Recallthatdrepresentsthedistancebetweenlinesinthediffractiongrating.Ifyoulookat
yougratingyourwillreadthefollowinglisting:500lines/mm,i.e.,eachmillimeter(mm)
contains500lines.So,theinverseofthis,i.e.,1/500shouldbethenumberofmillimeters
betweenalineandanadjacentline.Thus,(1/500)mm/line.Theresultshouldbe:d=0.002
mmbetweenlinesor2000nmbetweenlines.]
ExperimentalDataandCalculations:
Distancea

91.44cm

91.44cm

91.44cm

91.44cm

17cm

23.8cm

27.6cm

34cm

Violet

Teal

Yellow

Red

3.66*10 1 6 nm

5.05*10 1 6 nm

5.78*10 1 6 nm

6.97*10 1 6 nm

5.43*10 1 9 J

3.94*10 1 9 J

3.44*10 1 9 J

2.85*10 1 9 J

Distancesb
ColorObserved
Wavelength
Energy
Violet
Wavelength

.0 0 0 2 c m
17

17
2

=3.66*10 5 cm(1m/100cm)(10 9 nm/1m)=3.66*10 1 6 nm

9 1 .4 4
2

Energy
E ( 6 .6 2 6 * 1 0

34

3 .0 * 1 0 1 0 c m / s
=5.43*10 1 9 J
3 .6 6 * 1 0 5 c m

Teal

2 3 .8

.0 0 0 2 c m

=5.038*10 5 cm(1m/100cm)(10 9 nm/1m)=5.038*10 1 6 nm

2 3 .8 2 9 1 . 4 4 2

WagenborgHydrogenSpectrumLabPage 2
E ( 6 .6 2 6 * 1 0

34

3 .0 * 1 0 1 0 c m /
)
5 .0 4 * 1 0 5 c m

=3.94*10 1 9 J

Yellow

2 7 .6

.0 0 0 2 c m

=5.78*10 5 cm(1m/100cm)(10 9 nm/1m)=5.78*10 1 6 nm

2 7 .6 2 9 1 .4 4 2

E ( 6 .6 2 6 * 1 0

34

3 .0 * 1 0 1 0 c m / s
)
=3.44*10 1 9 J
5 .7 8 * 1 0 5 c m

Red

34

.0 0 0 2 c m

34

E ( 6 .6 2 6 * 1 0

=6.97*10 5 cm(1m/100cm)(10 9 nm/1m)=6.97*10 1 6 nm

9 1 .4 4 2

34

3 .0 * 1 0 1 0 c m / s
=2.85*10 1 9 J
5
6
.
9
7
*
1
0
c
m

Showrepresentativewavelengthandenergycalculations.Thenfillinthetablewithyouresults.
1. Theenergyvaluescalculatedrepresenttheenergyemittedbytheelectronwhenit
transitionsfromhigherenergyleveltoalower.Theredlineinthehydrogenspectrumis
theresultofatransitionfromthen=3tothen=2energylevels.Whatenergylevel
transitionsarerepresentedbytheotherlinesinthespectrum?
Yellowoccurswhenthelevelgoesfromn=4ton=2.
Tealoccurswhenthelevelgoesfromn=5ton=2.
Violetoccurswhenthelevelgoesfromn=6ton=2.

2.Usingyourresults,explainhowE,thedifferenceinenergybetweenlevels,variesas
n,theenergylevel,increases.
ChangeinEnergy

WagenborgHydrogenSpectrumLabPage 3
n=5ton=4(ViolettoTeal):1.49*10 1 9
n=4ton=3(TealtoYellow):5*10 2 0
n=3ton=2(YellowtoRed):5.9*10 2 0

Astheenergylevelincreasedthedifferenceinenergydecreaseddrasticallyandthenwas
thenveryclose.Thechangeinenergybetweenn=5andn=4washigherthenthechangein
energybetweenn=4andn=3.Thechangeinenergybetweenn=4andn=3wasslightly
lowerthanthechangefromn=3ton=2.(Thiscouldbeattributedtoanerrorinour
originaldistancemeasurements.)

3.Thespectrumyouobservedisthevisiblespectrumforhydrogen,alsocalledtheBalmer
series.Therearetwootherseriesforhydrogen:thePaschenandtheLymanseries.ThePashcen
seriesoccursatwavelengthslongerthanthoseobservedintheBalmerserieswhiletheLyman
seriesoccursatwavelengthsshorterthanthoseobservedintheBalmerseries.
Inwhichpartoftheelectromagneticspectrumiseachofthesespectralseries?
Pleaseexplainyourreasoning.
Lymanwouldbeinthegammaraystoultravioletpartoftheelectromagneticspectrum.
ThisisbecausethispartofthespectrumhaswavelengthsthatareshorterthantheBalmer
Series(visiblespectrum).
Paschenwouldoccurattheendpartoftheelectromagneticspectrum(inferredto
microwavesandradiowaves).Thisisbecausethewavelengthsinthispartarelongerthan
theBalmerSeries(visiblespectrum).
Recall that the lines in Balmer series can be represented as electron energy level
changes(transitions)fromnlevels>2(i.e.,3,4,5,6,)downton f=2.So,fortheBalmer
seriesoflines,someoftheelectronenergyleveltransitionsare:
ni=3>nf=2;ni=4>nf=2;ni=5>nf=2;etc.Oneofthesenewspectralseries
(PaschenorLyman)involvestransitionsfromhighernlevelston f =1andtheotherinvolves
transitionsfromhighernlevelstonf=3.
Whichelectrontransitionsinthehydrogenatomproduceeachseries?
Isthisconsistentwithyouranswerto#2?Pleaseexplainyourreasoning.

WagenborgHydrogenSpectrumLabPage 4
Aswegotohighernlevels,thechangeinenergyincreasesbylessandlessandthe
wavelengthsgetsmallerandsmaller.Thustheseriesdescribedasthetransitionfrom
higherlevelston=1hastobeLymanSeries.ThisisbecauseitwasstatedthattheLyman
serieshadshorterwavelengthsthantheBalmerSeries.
Thetransitionfromhigherlevelston=3mustbethePaschenSeriessinceournlevel
movementisnotashigh,ourchangeinenergyisshorter(notdecreasingasmuchbecause
thereisnotasmanylevels)andthewavelengthswouldbelonger.Thisisbecauseitwas
statedthatthePaschenSerieshaslongerwavelengthsthantheBalmerSeries.
Thisisconsistentwithmyanswerto#2.