Where should the Rydberg Equation be used?

[Chris_Butler_1A]

I am a little confused as to when we are supposed to use the Rydberg Equation vs using the Empirical Equation for Hydrogen. Is the Rydberg Equation simply another method for finding the emitted or absorbed light following a quantum level transition? Or is it more appropriately used when we need to find the light emitted or absorbed from an atom other than Hydrogen?

[Jason Nguyen_1B]

I believe the Rydberg Equation is just another way to find the emitted or absorbed light following a quantum level transition and it is derived from the empirical formula. You could use either the empirical formula or Rydberg's Equation but Professor Lavelle prefers that we use the empirical formula so that we understand why we plug in the numbers that we do.

[AndrewNguyen_2H]

Rydberg's equation is used solely with hydrogen.

[Chris_Butler_1A]

I believe the Rydberg Equation is just another way to find the emitted or absorbed light following a quantum level transition and it is derived from the empirical formula. You could use either the empirical formula or Rydberg's Equation but Professor Lavelle prefers that we use the empirical formula so that we understand why we plug in the numbers that we do.

I see thank you, and just to make sure. If we had a problem where we need to find the light absorbed by an electron, would the value you find in Joules still be a negative value when using either the Empirical or Rydberg Equations?

[Sami Siddiqui 1J]

To address your last question Chris, you may occasionally calculate a negative value for the frequency from the Rydberg equation and that would cause you to calculate a negative energy if you kept the sign. However, because negative frequencies don't exist, we simply ignore that sign and, as such, would still attain a positive value for energy.

[Tanner Bartyczak 1K]

I was also a little confused on when to use the Rydberg equation. Thanks for the help.

[Chris_Butler_1A]

I was also a little confused on when to use the Rydberg equation. Thanks for the help.

From the examples and the TA's I have asked, it seems like you can use either the Rydberg Equation or E = -hR/n^2 but Dr. Lavelle prefers the latter because it allows us to follow the exact process and placement of units. It seems as though the Rydberg Equation is a condensed version of the latter equation that can also be manipulated to find the n values given the other variables are already found.

[EmilyGillen_1A]

The Rydberg equation is used when you are given either the energy, frequency, or wavelength of an atom as it transitions from one energy level to another energy level - if you are given this information, you will use Rydberg equation to find a missing energy level (n=?). You also might be given the both energy levels and asked to find frequency, energy, or wavelength.

Most importantly, if you are given a situation where an electron has moved from one energy level to another (it can be moving up- absorbing energy- or moving down -releasing energy), you can use the Rydberg equation to fill in the gaps to find the missing variable.

[James Patanian 2C]

To add, the Rydberg equation would be useful when aiming to solve for frequency rather than energy. Although, you can use either equation and Dr. Lavelle prefers the empirical.

[Sukhkiran Kaur 3I]

I'm sure it can be used in multiple places, but the main use I've seen for it so far is when solving problems related to Bohr's model of hydrogen regarding 2 energy levels.

[Isabella Cortes 2H]

The Rydberg Equation is another method for finding the emitted or absorbed light following quantum level change and it's simliar to the Empirical Equation for hydrogen in that Rydberg is derived from it. Both of these equations can only be used for Hydrogen atoms and 1 electron systems.

[Gian Boco 2G]

I think you can choose either. In the lecture, he clearly showed that using the empirical formula twice and then subtracting worked just as well as using the ryderberg equation but it helps teach the concepts. Just be careful with the Ryderberg constant