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Rydberg Constant

The document describes an experiment to measure the Rydberg constant using a hydrogen discharge lamp, diffraction grating, and telescope. It explains Bohr's model of the hydrogen atom and the theoretical derivation of the Rydberg formula. The experiment involves calibrating the apparatus using a mercury lamp, measuring diffraction angles of hydrogen lines, and fitting the data to determine wavelengths and calculate the Rydberg constant. The results obtain a value of 1.17x10^7 ± .03 m^-1 for the Rydberg constant, in acceptable agreement with theory.

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554 views16 pages

Rydberg Constant

The document describes an experiment to measure the Rydberg constant using a hydrogen discharge lamp, diffraction grating, and telescope. It explains Bohr's model of the hydrogen atom and the theoretical derivation of the Rydberg formula. The experiment involves calibrating the apparatus using a mercury lamp, measuring diffraction angles of hydrogen lines, and fitting the data to determine wavelengths and calculate the Rydberg constant. The results obtain a value of 1.17x10^7 ± .03 m^-1 for the Rydberg constant, in acceptable agreement with theory.

Uploaded by

Sarla dabas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

The Measurement of

The Rydberg Constant


By Alex Gibbs
Background
 In 1913, Niels Bohr proposed
his “Bohr Model”; a working
model of the hydrogen atom.
 Supported his model by
deriving the Rydberg
Formula:
 What is the Rydberg
Constant R?
Theoretical Derivation of Rydberg
Formula
 Electron contained in orbit around nucleus by a balance
between Centripetal and Coulomb Forces:
(1)
 Angular momentum( ) is quantized and is an integral
multiple of so:
(2)
 Solving Equations (1) and (2) gives:

and
Theory Continued
 In the Bohr Model Total energy is equal to Kinetic energy plus
Potential energy:

 Which reduces to:

 Since the principle quantum number n characterizes the orbit, the


energy change due to orbit transitions is:

 Where the Rydberg Constant is:


Experimental Methods
 A Hydrogen Discharge lamp is
used to excite atoms to make
transitions between energy
states producing light.
 The light is collimated and
sent through a diffraction
grating
 The diffraction grating
separates the light into its
spectrum
 A telescope is attached to view
the spectrum and measure the
angle of diffraction
Plan of Analysis
 Calibration of apparatus
 Hydrogen Visible Wavelengths Derivation
 Rydberg Constant Derivation
Calibration
 A good calibration is crucial when conducting this
experiment with this apparatus

 Diffraction angles are a “finger print” of the element so


must be correct and not distorted

 Good calibration is achieved when diffraction angles


are symmetric about =0

 Calibration is done using mercury lamp of known


wavelength: λ (green)= 5460.74 Å
Calibration Data
n Θr(bad) Θr(ok) Θr(good) n*λ (angstoms) sin[Θr(bad)] sin[Θr(ok)] sin[Θr(good)]

1 9.2±0.1 9.2±0.1 9.5±0.1 5460.74 0.16 0.165 0.165

2 19.0±0.1 19.3±0.1 19.3±0.1 10921.5 0.326 0.331 0.331

3 29.4±0.1 29.6±0.1 29.7±0.1 16382.2 0.491 0.494 0.495

4 46.1±0.1 51.3±0.1 45.0±0.1 21843 0.721 0.78 0.707

-1 -9.4±0.1 -9.5±0.1 -9.5±0.1 -5460.74 -0.163 -0.165 -0.165

-2 -20.5±0.1 -19.4±0.1 -19.4±0.1 -10921.5 -0.35 -0.332 -0.332

-3 -36.2±0.1 -29.8±0.1 -29.8±0.1 -16382.2 -0.591 -0.497 -0.497

-4 -58.9±0.1 -41.5±0.1 -41.5±0.1 -21843 -0.856 -0.663 -0.663


Determination of Visible
Wavelengths
 Measure Θr at n= ±1, ±2, ±3
for the visible hydrogen
wavelengths H(red), H(blue)
and H(purple)

 Make a linear least squares fit


from the data pairs

 Extract values of wavelengths


from the slopes of the graphs

 λ(red)= 665 ± 21 nm,


 λ(blue)= 462 ± 9 nm,
 λ(purple)= 432 ± 4 nm
Determination of Rydberg
Constant
 Make a linear least squares
fit of the data pairs:

 Determine Rydberg Constant


from slope.
 Best Fit gives:
RH=1.17x10^7 ± .03 m^-1
Final Result & Discussion
 Ok agreement between experimental and expected
data.

 Corresponds to a percentage probability of 8.2%.


 Greater than 5% level but not by much.
 7.5% error relative to theoretical value.
Conclusion
 The hydrogen spectrometer can be used to obtain an
ok value of the Rydberg constant,

RH=1.17x10^7 ± .03 m^-1

 Further calibration can lead to a Really Good value for


the Rydberg constant: Bad Calibration gives:

RH=1.21x10^7 ± .05 m^-1

2.4% improvement in accuracy

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