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The Balmer series for the hydrogen atom corresponds to electronic transitions th

ID: 1622840 • Letter: T

Question

The Balmer series for the hydrogen atom corresponds to electronic transitions that terminate in the state with quantum number n 2 as shown in the figure below. Consider the photon of longest wavelength corresponding to a transition shown in the figure. E(eV) 0.00 6 0.378 0.5442 0.8504 1.512 3.401 Balmer Series (a) Determine its energy. eV (b) Determine its wavelength. nm Consider the spectral line of shortest wavelength corresponding to a transition shown in the figure. (C) Find its photon energy. eV (d) Find its wavelength. nm (e) What is the shortest possible wavelength in the Balmer series? nm

Explanation / Answer

if electron make a transition from n=3 to n= 2

we get longest wavelength

(a) En = -13.6/n^2

E3 - E2 = -13.6(1/3^2 -1/2^2)

= 1.89 eV

(b) DE = hc/lamda

1.89 = 1243/lamda

lama = 657.67 nm

(c) if electron make a transition from n=infinity to n= 2

we get shortest wavelength

(d) En = -13.6/n^2

DE = -13.6(0-1/2^2)

= 3.4 eV

(d) DE = hc/lamda

3.4 = 1243/lamda

lamda = 365.6 nm

(e) lamda = 365.6 nm