Achieve HW #11

[michaelcrisera]

This question states: A blue line is observed at 486.1 nm in the spectrum of atomic hydrogen. Determine the values of n for the beginning and ending energy levels of the electron during the emission of energy that leads to this spectral line.

In order to solve this problem, I know to convert the given wavelength to frequency so that I can apply the Rydberg equation. However, because there are still two unknown variables in this equation (n1 and n2), I am not sure what to do next. I know that I am supposed use the given text to determine the value of n1, but I do not know how/why to do this.

[Arjan G 2H]

Hi! So the way I started off solving this problem was that I first calculated the value of n1. Because the wavelength was in between the visible light spectrum, I was able to deduce that the problem was a part of the Balmer series, where n1 always equaled 2. Then, I calculated the frequency of the wave by dividing the speed of light, or velocity, by the wavelength given to us in the problem. Then, I used the Rydberg equation "v=R(1/(n1^2)-1/(n2^2)) and rearranged the equation to solve for n2. I plugged in the frequency value for v, then used Rydberg's constant for R, and used 2 for the value of n1. After using order of operations to compute the answer, you will get your answer for n2. I hope this helps!