The Hydrogen Balmer Series and Rydberg Constant

Bhambhu Jetharam Meharamram

1 Aim
1. to study the emission of light from a hydrogen discharge source,
2. to learn the empirical formulas to characterize the pattern of spectral lines from hydrogen,
3. to learn the postulates for developing the Bohr model of the hydrogen atom,
4. to study and develop the Bohr theory of the hydrogen atom,
5. to measure the wavelengths of the Balmer series of visible emission lines from hydrogen,
and
6. to learn to analyze the wavelength data to determine the Rydberg constant using the
Bohr model formulation.

2 Apparatus
1. a Pasco precision student spectrometer,
2. a grating with either 300 lines/mm or 600 lines/mm,
3. a hydrogen discharge lamp and power supply,
4. a magnifying glass,
5. a small night light, and
6. a black cloth to block out stray light.

3 Theory
• Hydrogen is the lightest element with atomic mass 1 amu and has one electron revolving
around a nucleus having one proton. Due to single electron revolution, this system of
hydrogen atoms is quite simple and its properties like spectrum are easier to observe in
comparison to other elemental systems having many electrons. The emission spectrum
of the hydrogen atom consists of a series of spectral lines. In 1885 Balmer was able to fit
the discrete wavelengths l of part of the emission spectrum of the hydrogen atom, now
called the Balmer series, to the empirical formula
n2 G
λ=
n2 − 4
where G is a constant and n= 3, 4, 5,...... .

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• Using the relationship η = λ
c
where is the frequency and c the speed of light in a vacuum,
η Equation becomes
1 1
η = R( − 2 )
4 n
in which R is the Rydberg constant for hydrogen. This equation, and even the fact that
the spectrum is discrete rather than continuous, is completely at variance with classical
mechanics. In the SI system of units, R=1.097 x 107 m−1 . Balmer suggested that his
formula may be more general and could describe spectra from other elements. Then in
1889, Johannes Robert Rydberg found several series of spectra that would fit a more
general relationship, similar to Balmer’s empirical formula. This general relationship is
known as the Rydberg formula and is given by
1 1 1
= R( 2 − 2 )
λ m n
n¿m,where m and n are integers, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ... up to infinity, with n¿m. For the
hydrogen atom, m = 2 corresponds to the Balmer series. There are other series in the
hydrogen atoms that have been measured. The Lyman series is a set of ultraviolet lines
that fit the relationship with m = 1. A series in the infrared region of the spectrum is the
Paschen series that corresponds to m = 3. The Brackett and Pfund series are two more
in the infrared region corresponding to m = 4 and m = 5. The individual lines in the
Balmer series are given the names Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta, and each corresponds
to a ni value of 3, 4, 5, and 6 respectively.

• The appearance of the spectral series is explained in the Bohr model on the basis of
transitions between different energy levels (in above figure). For the Lyman series the
final state is the ground state with n = 1, for the Balmer series it is that with n = 2, and
so on. Now knowing that in a transition between two energy levels m, n a line with a
wavelength determined by
hc
= Em − En
λ
is emitted, it is found using energy expression by Bohr’s theory, that the Rydberg constant
is equal to
me4
R= 2 3
8e h c
It is expressed in terms of the fundamental physical constants, the mass of an electron, m,
the charge of an electron, e, Planck’s constant, h, the speed of light, c and the permittivity
of vacuum, ϵ.

• When a beam of light strikes an obstacle with an aperture or an edge diffraction effects
in the form of fringe patterns are observed. These effects can be analyzed using Huygens’

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 principle. It states that every point reached by an incoming wave may be considered as a
source of secondary waves which propagate in all directions with the speed of the incoming
wave. The resultant displacement at any point is found by adding the displacements
produced by the secondary waves according to the superposition principle. The diffraction
grating is an array of a large number of parallel slits, having the same width and spacing.

• The spacing d between the centers of adjacent slits is the grating spacing and usually is
very small. The path difference ∆r between two adjacent diffracted waves is dsinθ and the
maxima in their interference are observed for an angle θ which satisfies the relationship

dsinθ = kλ

• When monochromatic light illuminates the grating a diffraction pattern contains a series
of sharp lines. The lines for k = ±1 are called first-order lines for k = ±2 second-order
lines and so on. Diffraction gratings are used to distinguish between lines with a small
difference in wavelength. The minimum wavelength difference D which can be observed
by a grating spectrometer is given by the chromatic resolving power P
∆λ
P = = Nk
λ
which for the grating is equal to the product of the number of lines N and the line order
k.

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 • A schematic diagram of the student spectrometer is shown in the above figure, which
illustrates the principles of its operation. The student spectrometer consists of three basic
components: a collimator, a diffraction grating, and a telescope. The light to be analyzed
enters the spectrometer through an adjustable slit, which forms a narrow, well-defined
line source of light.

• This slit is located at the focal point of the collimator, which transforms the light into a
parallel, collimated beam of light. The beam uniformly illuminates the grating so that
all light rays strike the grating at the same angle of incidence. A parallel beam of light is
necessary to illuminate the grating so that a sharp image of the slit can be formed when
viewed with the telescope.

4 Procedure
1. To get best and most accurate results we have to ensure that the spectrometer is aligned
properly. The light source should be located about 1 cm from the collimator slit for better
illumination. The slit should be examined and adjusted so that it is just barely open.

2. When we look through the eyepiece of a telescope, we see the crosshairs of the graticule.
We have to slide the eyepiece in and out until the cross-hairs come into sharp focus and
rotate the graticule alignment ring to adjust the orientation of the cross-hairs so that they
are aligned vertically and horizontally.

3. Now we have to set the light source, which is the hydrogen discharge lamp in our case. The
hydrogen lamp should be around 1 cm away from the slit. We adjust the telescope eyepiece
such that the light from the slit is coinciding with the vertical hair of the gratitude.

4. We mount the grating on the spectrometer table with the help of screws on the table.
We have to rotate the rotating table base such that vernier scale zero coincides with the
main scale zero. We can also rotate the telescope, so we have to adjust the telescope such
that the collimator, grating and telescope eyepiece should be in the same line.

5. Now we see from eyepiece to observe diffraction by grating and adjust it such that the
central maxima of the diffracted light should coincide with left end of the light coming
from slit (we will observe left end of light in full experiment to ignore the parallax error)

6. At this stage our reading of angle should be adjusted at zero, now as we move the eyepiece
away from the central image, we see the first order diffraction lines of violet, green and
red light followed by the second order diffraction pattern of lines of the same colors. We
are only able to view the violet, turquoise and red color for first order diffraction because

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 there is some light in our dark room due to disturbance by other groups, so we weren’t
able to match appropriate conditions to observe the other color.

7. We will take both MSR and VSR reading for violet, turquoise and red color lines for first
order diffraction in both right and left direction. The second order diffraction colors are
too dull to observe in our setup. We can use the magnifying glass to better make this
adjustment.

8. These visible lines are three of the Balmer lines corresponding to nf = 5, 4, and 3.There
is a fourth one corresponding to nf = 6, but it is weak, and sometimes so extremely weak
that it cannot be seen.

9. We have our spreadsheet in which we measure and record the readings on the main scale
for the angles θR and θL in degrees. This should be done for ni = 5, 4, and 3, both right
and left diffracted Balmer lines, and for both the first and second order patterns, k=1.
The readings for θR should be in the range of 0-30 degree and the readings for θL should
be in the range 330-360 degree. Of course the values of θL should be in the range of 0-30
degree, but will be found later in the analysis of the data by subtracting the reading value
from the initial value of 360°.

10. Now, we have the angle at which we observe the first order diffraction pattern and we
know the spacing between adjacent slits d, so we can use equation 5 to calculate the
wavelength of light.
dsinθ = λ

11. Now we have wavelength and the energy level of transitions, so by equation (3), we can
find the value of Rydberg’s constant.

5 Graph and Data

• Least Count = 60
1
(degree)

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Blue line for right angle and Orange line for left angle

6 Analysis
• Right Angle

• slope=Rydberg Constant=10016591.2 m−1

• %Difference= acceptvalue−measuredvalue
acceptedvalue
∗ 100=8.72

• Left Angle

• slope=Rydberg Constant=9978449.9 m−1

• %Difference= acceptvalue−measuredvalue
acceptedvalue
∗ 100=9

• Source of Error

1. The error in our data may be due to that we didn’t have complete darkness in the
lab i.e., there is some stray light which may have caused incorrect interpretation of
reading.
2. The voltage for the hydrogen bulb lamp is not much, which causes less illumination
of light. Due to this we weren’t able to get all transitions of first order and any of
the second order.
3. There may be parallax errors in taking readings.
4. Non locking of spectrometer tables or telescopes can cause errors

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7 Questions
1. Show that the SI units for Planck’s constant h are equal to the SI units of angular
momentum.

• E= hc
λ
, si unit of h= joule-sec
• L=(2IE)1/2 , si unit of L=joule-sec

2. Calculate the magnitude of the Bohr radius.

3. Calculate the speed of the electron moving in an orbit whose radius is equivalent to the
Bohr radius.
2
• speed of electron= 2ϵh
e
=2.18*106 m/sec

4. Using your value for the Rydberg constant, calculate the wavelength of an ultraviolet
transition in the Lyman series from the n = 2 level and to the n = 1 level.

• 1/λ=R(1-1/4)
• λ=123.45nm-1

5. Using your value for the Rydberg constant, calculate the wavelength of an infrared tran-
sition in the Paschen series from the n = 4 level and to the n = 3 level.

• 1/λ=R(1/9-1/16)
• λ=1904.85nm-1

6. How much energy does it take to ionize a hydrogen atom in its ground state? That is
how much energy has to be supplied to move an electron from the n = 1 level to the n
=∞ level?

• 1/λ=R(1-1/∞)
• λ=92.6nm-1
• E=hc/λ=13.42 eV

7. In the analysis of your results, suppose you had plotted 1/λ versus 1/n2 instead of(1/4-
1/n2 ) . Would your data give a straight line and would its slope give the same results for
R? How would the intercept change?

• Graph will be a straight line with Slope = -R and intercept = R/4.