Two hydrogen lines are measured as vacuum wavenumbers: Lyman ( ) at and Balmer ( ) at .

PHYSICS · Multi-part · Fermi University Physics · Atomic, Molecular & Optical Physics · One-electron atoms and the origins of atomic structure · One-electron atoms and the origins of atomic structure

Reading the Spectrum, Ch Lines, series and the term diagram: what a spectrometer measures

Problem

Two hydrogen lines are measured as vacuum wavenumbers: Lyman α\alpha (n=2→1n=2\to1) at 82259 cm−182259\,\mathrm{cm^{-1}} and Balmer β\beta (n=4→2n=4\to2) at 20565 cm−120565\,\mathrm{cm^{-1}}. ((a)) Explain, using the Ritz combination principle, how these two lines combine to give a third, unmeasured line, and name the transition (n2→n1n_2\to n_1) it corresponds to. ((b)) Predict that line's wavenumber and its vacuum wavelength, in nm.

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