Electromagnetic Spectrum & Line

Spectrum of Atomic Hydrogen

Group Members: Bryan Lee Chien Yung
Lee Zheng Hao
Lee Bi Lung
 Electromagnetic Spectrum

• Electromagnetic spectrum, the entire distribution of

electromagnetic radiation according to frequency or
wavelength.
• Although all electromagnetic waves travel at the
speed of light in a vacuum, they do so at a wide range
of frequencies, wavelengths, and photon energies.
• The electromagnetic spectrum comprises the span of
all electromagnetic radiation and consists of many
subranges, commonly referred to as portions, such as
visible light or ultraviolet radiation.
 Light as Waves

• Electromagnetic radiation is usually thought of

as waves. It can be described by its wavelength
(𝜆), frequency (f) and speed (c).
Speed of light:
3.00 × 108
𝑐
In {Hz or 𝑠 −1 } 𝑓=
𝜆 In [m or nm ]
 Light as Particles

• Einstein and Planck proposed that particles such

as atoms and molecules absorb and emit energy
in discrete (separate) amounts or packets.
• Thus, electromagnetic radiation behaves as if it
were composed of little energy packets, called
photons.
• Electromagnetic radiation is emitted only in tiny
packets or quanta of energy called photons.
 𝐸𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛 = ℎ𝑓

E : j (joules)
h : Planck’s constant ( 6.63 × 10−34 𝐽𝑠 𝑜𝑟 3.99 ×
10−13 𝑘𝐽𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑙−1 )
𝑓 ∶ ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑧 ( 𝐻𝑧 𝑜𝑟𝑠 −1 )
 Emission Spectrum of
Atomic Hydrogen
1) When electricity passes through a discharge
tube containing hydrogen at low pressure, many
of the molecules break up into single atoms.
These atoms emit both visible and invisible
radiations, some of the latter being in the
infrared, and some in the ultraviolet part of the
spectrum. If the radiations are analyzed by a
spectroscope, they yield a line spectrum, which
can be photographed.
Spectroscope
𝐻𝛼 𝐻𝛽 𝐻𝛾
 2) Series of atomic
hydrogen emission
spectrum
Series 𝒏𝟏 𝒏𝟐 Spectrum Region
Lyman 1 2,3,4… Ultraviolet
Balmer 2 3,4,5… Visible
Paschen 3 4,5,6… Infrared
Brackett 4 5,6,7… Infrared
Pfund 5 6,7,8… Infrared
3) The wavelengths of the lines in the various
series are in accordance with the simple
equation:
1 1 1
= 𝑅𝐻 ( − )
𝜆 𝑛1 𝑛2

where 𝜆 is the corresponding wavelength, 𝑅𝐻 is

the Rydberg constant, 𝑛1 , and 𝑛2 are whole
numbers.
4) The series of lines in the visible part of the
spectrum is the Balmer series. The three most
prominent lines are labelled 𝐻𝛼 , 𝐻𝛽, 𝐻𝛾 .The
Balmer series of lines is for the energy
transitions when the excited hydrogen electron
falls back from higher energy levels to n=2
5) The Lyman series of lines is found in the
ultraviolet part of the spectrum. It is caused by
the excited hydrogen electron returning from
higher levels to the n=1 ground-state energy
level.