Sapling Energy Level and Wavelength

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

KMcFarland_2L
Posts: 90
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2020 9:52 pm

Sapling Energy Level and Wavelength

The question in Sapling asks for the beginning and ending energy levels of the electron that produced a specific wavelength of emission spectrum. For this question, I used Rydberg's equation then trial and error to find the energy levels, is there another formula/equation that would be better to use?

Posts: 155
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2020 9:32 pm
Been upvoted: 5 times

Re: Sapling Energy Level and Wavelength

I am not sure exactly what question you are referring to, but if a colored line is produced, that means it is part of the Balmer series, so n=2. If the question does not specify anything about the type of radiation emitted, you can check if the wavelength is part of the visible light region (420 to 700 nm) or the UV region, which can help you figure out if the final energy level is n=2 or n=1 (Balmer or Lyman series). From there you should be able to figure out the initial energy level.

Hope this helps!

Mikayla James 2A
Posts: 90
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2020 9:31 pm
Been upvoted: 2 times

Re: Sapling Energy Level and Wavelength

Hi! I think you're talking about question 11 on the sapling hw (you might not be, but it's a similar question so I'll explain how I worked through it). I didn't use the Rydberg equation solving this one, I just used ΔE = E2-E1 and En = -(hR)/(n)^2. So because the wavelength of the emission is 434 nm, we know that n1=2 because it's the Balmer series. From there, I calculated the energy of the 434 nm emission, which is the ΔE value. Then using the En equation, I calculated the energy for n=2. Because ΔE = En - E2, I substituted the values calculated for ΔE and E2 above to get En = 8.7022x10^-20 J and used that value in the En=-(hR)/(n)^2 to find that n2=5. Depending on your preference, this method may be easy or more complicated for you, but I hope this helps!

Jordan_OBrien_2k
Posts: 53
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2020 9:43 pm

Re: Sapling Energy Level and Wavelength

Hey! For this question, you have to remember that visible light is within the Balmer series. This means that the final state has to be n=2. You then use the Rydberg equation to find n2. Lastly, you would use lambda=hv to find the wavelengths of each respective energy level.