Balmer and Lyman Series

[Savannah Mance 4G]

In the spectral line series, the series is describing how the hydrogen transitions from a higher energy level to a lower energy level and emits light. If the hydrogen atom is going from a high energy level to a lower energy level, then why is n1 the lower energy level? Wouldn't n2 be the lower one since it is the energy level that it moves to and the high energy level is the initial? Why isn't the higher energy level n1?

[Venus_Hagan 2L]

The 1 and 2 are the names of the energy levels. It not like final and initial. When an excited electron starts at some higher level (2,3,4 or 5) and falls to the 1 energy level then it is in the Lyman series. When the excited electron starts at some higher level (3,4,or 5) and falls to the 2 energy level then it is in the Balmer series.

[Brianna Becerra 1B]

n1 and n2 refer to initial and final. It can correlate to either the higher or lower levels as it is representing the initial and final levels and either can be the higher or the lower level.

[William Chan 1D]

I believe you mean when the hydrogen electron gets excited.

The lowest energy level is n=1, and it goes up from there, n = 2, 3, etc.

Let's say we have an electron at n =2. When a photon with the right amount of energy hits an electron, it will excite it to a higher energy level, let's say n = 3. It has absorbed the photon and has gained energy by moving to a higher energy level. Then, because this configuration is unstable, the electron will return to a lower energy level, let's say n = 1 again. It releases a photon as it comes down, so n = 1 is the lower energy level, and n = 3 is the higher energy level.

For a spectral line series, the Lyman series is where the electron goes down to n=1. The Balmer series is when the electron goes down to n=2.

[ShravanPatel2B]

The reason is because as the principle quantum number increases (n) the energy increases due to it being further from the nucleus

[Tiffany Dong_4e]

The electron moving from n1 to n2 is the process of it being excited. The Lyman and Balmer series describe the electron as it is falling back down to lower energy levels from its excited state.