Hydrogen emission

Small Group Activity: Hydrogen emission

Contemporary Challenges 2021

In this activity students work out energy level transitions in hydrogen that lead to visible light.

Small Group Activity schedule 30 min. description Student handout (PDF)
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hydrogen atom photon energy

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This activity follows the lecture Quantum waves and spectra

Here is an expression for the energy levels of an electron in a particular situation (an electron bound to a single proton): \begin{align} E_n &= \frac{-13.6\text{ eV}}{n^2} & n&=1,2,3,\cdots \end{align}

Sketch the energy level diagram
Find at least one allowed transition which produces a photon with a visible color

Note:: \begin{align} \lambda &= \frac{2\pi\hbar c}{E_{\text{photon}}}\\ &= \frac{1240\text{ eV}\cdot\text{nm}}{E_{\text{photon}}} \end{align}

Keywords

hydrogen atom photon energy

Learning Outcomes