## different Rydberg

H-Atom ($E_{n}=-\frac{hR}{n^{2}}$)

Savannah Mance 4G
Posts: 107
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2019 12:17 am

### different Rydberg

I know on the constant sheet they write the Rydberg formula as En=-hR/n^2 but the other way to write it is v=R(1/n1^2)(1/n2^2). When do you use one versus the other? Like what kind of problems would you have where you would need to use the other version?

Anish Patel 4B
Posts: 59
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2019 12:17 am

### Re: different Rydberg

E/-h can be rearranged (based on the E=hv and c=lambda * v equations) to represent the left side and the coefficients of the right side of the equation. N2 is used when you are trying to determine the change in energy when an electron switches from different energy levels (n) which is when you would use the second equation

Kavee Dodampahala 4E
Posts: 51
Joined: Sat Jul 20, 2019 12:17 am

### Re: different Rydberg

Is it ok to use to use the second one?

Noah Canio 3C
Posts: 55
Joined: Wed Sep 18, 2019 12:20 am

### Re: different Rydberg

Kavee Dodampahala 4E wrote:Is it ok to use to use the second one?

It's okay to use the alternative one as long as you can ensure that you can get the correct answer to any atomic spectra questions using it. From what I remember, Dr. Lavelle really pushed for us to use the equation that he put on his equation sheet. So, I would proceed with using the alternative equation with caution.