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SIDDIQUI 1
Abstract—In this experiment, we attempt to determine the of the gas[2] , giving vital clues for analysis of the sample.
Rydberg constant by direct measurement of the wavelengths This technique can be used to confirm the presence of certain
of photons emitted from the de-excitation of hydrogen atoms atoms, for example in a drug sample, or can be used to verify
in the Balmer series using a spectrometer with diffraction
gratings of line densities N = 300mm−1 (grating 1) and the purity of water[5] .
N = 78.8mm−1 (grating 2). We then use the Rydberg equa-
tion to make an estimate of the Rydberg constant from the A. Applications of Rydberg Constant
gradient and y-intercept of the plot. We estimate the Rydberg
constant within a tolerance of 2.7% or less. Using grating The Rydberg constant is fundamental to physics and is
1, we calculated R∞ = (1.11 ± 0.03) × 107 m−1 and R∞ = related to a number of physical quantities. Primarily, the Ryd-
(1.10 ± 0.01) × 107 m−1 from the gradient and y-intercept re- berg constant is the constant of proportionality in the Rydberg
spectively. For grating 2, we have R∞ = (1.10 ± 0.01) × 107 m−1 equation, which relates the wavelength of light emitted by
and R∞ = (1.09 ± 0.01) × 107 m−1 from the gradient and y-
intercept respectively. excited electrons when they transition between the energy
levels of a hydrogen atom. The value of the Rydberg constant,
denoted R∞ , is approximately[6]
I. I NTRODUCTION
R∞ = 1.09737 × 107 m−1
PECTROMETER devices are used to observe the emis-
S sion or absorption spectra of a light source or gaseous
atoms. Spectrometers typically offer measurements to an accu-
However, the Rydberg constant also has other applications.
For example, it can be defined in terms of the fine structure
racy of ±10 or 1 arc-minute[1] . When propagated through, this constant α = 7.29735 × 10−3 , which is a dimensionless
is equivalent to an error in the wavelength of approximately quantity that characterises the ratio of the strength of the elec-
σλ = 0.03% given sufficient repeat measurements are made[2] , tromagnetic interaction between two electrons to the strength
making it one of the most accurate experimental equipment of the gravitational interaction between two Planck masses[7] .
available. Then, the Rydberg constant can be expressed as
A spectrometer is usually configured along with a refractive α
R∞ = (1)
prism or a diffraction grating. By using the prism, it is possible 4πa0
to analyse the amount of refraction undergone by each incident where a0 = 5.29177 × 10−11 m is the Bohr radius. The
wavelength of light and therefore determine the refractive wavelength of light needed to ionise a hydrogen atom is
index of the prism as a function of wavelength[3] . By using a λ = 9.12 × 10−8 m and can be calculated by equating Eq.
diffraction grating, it is possible to use the diffraction angle 1 to 1/λ. From the Planck-Einstein relation, the ionisation
to determine the wavelength of the incident light. In our energy of the hydrogen atom is then E = 2.176 × 10−18 J.
experiment, we will be using the latter technique to analyse The Rydberg constant is also related to the Compton wave-
the emission spectra of a hydrogen lamp. length of an electron λe by
The grating spectrometer has a range of applications. For
example, the grating spectrometer was used by Fraunhofer α2
R∞ =
in 1814 to see the 574 dark lines of the solar absorption 2λe
spectrum[4] , which was subsequently used to determine the Therefore, the Compton wavelength of an electron is λe =
atomic composition of the sun. Similarly, the light from 2.426 × 10−12 m.
distant stars has been analysed by highly sensitive grating Note that the relationship of the Rydberg constant to other
spectrometers and this has been used to determine their atomic physical constants provides an indirect method of determining
composition, which subsequently allows astrophysicists to these constants. For example, if we are able to determine the
infer the temperature and age of these stars. Rydberg constant through a grating spectrometer experiment,
Spectrometry can also be used with gas chromatography in then we are subsequently able to determine other related quan-
forensics to analyse the composition of a sample of material. tities, such as the fine structure constant, the Bohr radius or the
As discussed by Knight, the ratio of the intensity of these Compton wavelength of an electron (which can then be used
spectral lines is related to the temperature of the gaseous to determine Planck’s constant or the mass of an electron).
sample, while the width of the lines is related to the density The ability to measure the Rydberg constant accurately also
U. SIDDIQUI 2
II. T HEORY TABLE I: The Balmer series — these are the wavelengths
of photons emitted when an electron in a hydrogen atom de-
A. Spectrometry excites from the nth energy level to the second energy level.
Spectrometry is the process of analysing the emission spec- Note that n could take any value up to ∞, but these values
tra of a light source, or the absorption spectra of a sample of n are the only ones that produce photons in the visible
material. To understand the principles of spectroscopy, the spectrum, which ranges from 400-700nm[8] .
Bohr model of the atom is used where electrons exist only
in discrete energy levels which are unique to each atom.
Therefore, the energy level transitions – that is, the energies in its path, such as an aperture or an obstacle[1] . This causes
needed for an electron to transition from a lower energy the wavefront to curve around the obstruction, which creates
state to higher energy states – are generally unique for each a path difference between different rays and therefore causes
atom. When an atom de-excites, its electrons transition from a interference, producing an intensity pattern that depends on the
higher energy state to a lower energy state, releasing energy as geometry of the setup. When the number of slits is increased,
photons. The energy released from each de-excitation event is the intensity pattern becomes more complicated and is shown
equal to the energy difference between the initial energy state for N = {2, 10} slits in Fig. 1.
and the final energy state. As these energy differences are
discrete and unique for each atom, the energy of the photons
emitted and hence the wavelength of the photons emitted are
also discrete and unique for each atom.
When an atom is excited by heating, its electrons move to
higher energy levels, but are unstable in these energy levels
and will spontaneously de-excite, emitting photons of discrete
wavelengths. If these emitted photons are analysed, they will
produce an emission spectrum. Conversely, if an atom in its
ground state is exposed to white light containing photons
with energies that coincide with the transition energies of the
atom, the ground state electrons will absorb these photons
and transition to the higher energy levels. This will produce
absorption spectra of dark lines, where certain wavelengths of
white light are absorbed by the electrons of gaseous atoms.
In this experiment, we will consider the emission spectrum
of the hydrogen atom. Hydrogen has a number of spectral
series. For example, the Lyman series is the set of spectral lines
when excited electrons from energy levels n = {2, 3, 4, . . .}
de-excite to the ground state. We will focus on the Balmer
series, which refers to the spectral line emissions when elec-
trons in energy levels n = {3, 4, 5, . . .} de-excite to the second
energy level. This is because the Balmer series is the only
spectral series for hydrogen that results in the emission of
lines in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum.
The defining equation for this behaviour is the Rydberg Fig. 1: Plots showing the intensity pattern produced by
equation diffraction through N slits for a fixed slit width and slit
1
1 1
separation (solid line). Note that each of the intensity patterns
= R∞ − (2) is modulated by the intensity pattern of single slit diffraction
λ p2 n2
(dashed line), since each slit has a finite width and therefore
where λ is the wavelength of the photon emitted when an light also undergoes single slit diffraction through these slits.
electron de-excites from the nth energy level to the pth energy
level (p < n). As before, R∞ is the Rydberg constant, p = 2 The equation for the intensity pattern produced by a wave
for the Balmer series and n = {3, 4, 5, . . . }. Then, the values of wavelength λ diffracting through a diffraction grating of
of λ for different values of n are given in Table I. line density N is[9]
sin2 α sin2 N β
B. Diffraction I = I0 (3)
α2 sin2 β
The diffraction grating of the grating spectrometer behaves
according to the principles of diffraction and interference. where
aπ
Diffraction occurs when a wavefront encounters an obstruction α= sin θ
λ
U. SIDDIQUI 3
From this angle, we lock the eyepiece and unlock the IV. R ESULTS
diffraction table. We place a reflective mirror in the slit holder A. Results
and rotate the diffraction table until the reflected light from
As expected, the fourth spectral line corresponding to the
the desk lamp is incident on the centre of the crosshairs
wavelength λ = 410nm was too dark to measure accurately.
in the eyepiece. This ensures that the grating holder is now
Therefore, the final data consisted of only three visible spectral
positioned at an angle of 45◦ to the collimator. We take a note
lines. The complete dataset is included in Appendix C for your
of this reading and add 45◦ before rotating the diffraction table
inspection.
until it is at the required angle. Now the diffraction holder is
To be able to plot the data we have collected, we first convert
aligned perpendicular to the rays from the collimator. For the
each angle from arc-minutes to its radian equivalent using the
remainder of the experiment, the diffraction table will remain
formula
locked in this position. This alignment procedure is shown in π
d
Fig. 3. θ= α+ (8)
180 60
where α is the degree element of the angle and d is the arc-
minute element. Subsequently, we normalise the angles of each
colour by subtracting the average of the m = 0 order maxima
from each of the measured angles, thereby ensuring that the
central fringe occurs at θ = 0rad.
Plotting each of the values of sin θ for normalised θ against
order of maxima m produces a linear graph for each of the
visible wavelengths of the Balmer series, as shown in Fig. 4.
B. Calculations
From the plots in Fig. 4 , we can deduce the wavelength
of each of the spectral lines using Eq. 4. These results are
summarised in Table II.
n Expected λ [nm] Calculated λ [nm] Calculated λ [nm]
N = 300mm−1 N = 78.8mm−1
3 656 655 ± 1 659 ± 1
4 486 486 ± 1 489 ± 1
5 434 428 ± 3 435 ± 1
A PPENDIX A A PPENDIX C
P RINCIPLE M AXIMA F INAL DATA
The intensity pattern of the single slit envelope is governed This is the final dataset for this experiment. Spectral lines
by the expression that could not be seen or distinguished were omitted.
sin2 α
300mm-1 Red Blue Violet
α2
Order Deg Arc-mins Deg Arc-mins Deg Arc-mins
while the principle maxima of the multiple slit intensity pattern [-] [◦ ] [0 ] [◦ ] [0 ] [◦ ] [0 ]
is given by the equation -3 - - 92 1 - -
-3 - - 91 30 - -
sin2 N β -3 - - 91 35 - -
β2 -2 94 22 100 35 102 28
-2 94 10 100 40 102 30
According to Weisstein[13] , the latter expression can be -2 94 29 100 30 102 25
-1 106 3 109 4 110 6
rewritten as -1 106 8 109 11 109 58
2 -1 106 10 109 10 110 6
sin2 N β
sin N β 0 117 31 117 25 117 31
=
β2 β 0 117 31 117 34 117 29
2 0 117 30 117 30 117 35
(sin β)Uβ−1 (cos β) 1 128 56 125 50 125 0
=
sin β 1 128 50 126 0 125 1
2 1 128 50 125 57 125 0
= (Uβ−1 (cos β)) 2 140 45 134 28 132 10
2 140 43 134 30 132 6
where Un (x) is known as the Chebyshev polynomial of the 2 140 40 134 30 132 10
2nd kind. The polynomial in cos β has principal maxima and 3 153 30 143 29 - -
3 153 30 143 28 - -
minima when β = mπ for integer m. Hence the square of this 3 153 30 143 31 - -
polynomial has its principle maxima at β = mπ as required.
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