In the hydrogen atomic spectrum, what is the wavelength of light associated with the n=4 to n=1 electron transition? What part of the EM spectrum is this wavelength?
I keep getting -9.73*10^-8m, could someone please explain how to get the correct answer?
Electron transition question
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Re: Electron transition question
Your answer is correct, however it needs to be positive since the Rydberg's equation is 1/(lambda) = R(1/(nf)^2 - 1/(ni)^2), where nf means n final or 1, and ni means n initial or 4. The correct answer would be 9.73*10^-8m, which translates to 97.3 nm. Any wavelength less than 200nm would not be under the visible light spectrum, but most likely be under the UV spectrum, since a jump from n=4 to n=1 would be the Lyman series.
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Re: Electron transition question
I got the value +9.73*10^-8 m which is UV light. The problem is that you should have made the energy negative since energy is being emitted (the UV light), so the equation you plug in for energy should be -hc/wavelength. Doing this will give you +9.73*10^-8 m. I hope this helps!
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