Atomic Spectra

[Yewon Jang 3K]

Light with a wavelength of 102.557 nm excites a hydrogen atom gas sample. What is the principal quantum level of the state that the electron was excited to?

Hi! I was struggling to figure out which equation to use to find the answer to this problem. I first found the energy level using E=hc/lambda then plugged that into En=-hR/n^2 but I've been getting the wrong answer. Thank you!

[Michael Vigman 2D]

I'm not sure what problem this is so you'll have to check with the textbook but is it possible you did not convert 102.557nm to meters? I think the SI units for wavelength might be in meters but I'm not 100% sure.

[Isabelle Kim 3E]

Hmm, I may be wrong but I think you'd apply the Rydberg's equation here since it's asking us for the energy level (principle quantum number, n) once it's excited. You're already given the wavelength (nm) and usually don't you also need to have the other principle quantum number. In this case, I was thinking there'd be the given initial n = x since it's asking for the final one.

edit: I think that we'd assume n = 1 given that we are dealing with H and energy is being absorbed. But the rest of what I've explained about using the Rydberg's equation should still stand...