Experiment 7: Spectrum of the

Hydrogen Atom



Nate Saffold

[email protected]



Office Hour: Mondays, 5:30-6:30PM

INTRO TO EXPERIMENTAL PHYS-LAB

1493/1494/2699
 Introduction

● The physics behind:

● The spectrum of light
● The empirical Balmer series for Hydrogen
● The Bohr model (a taste of Quantum Mechanics)
● Brief review of diffraction
● The experiment:
● How to use the spectrometer and read the Vernier scale
● Part 1: Analysis of the Helium (He) spectrum
● Finding lattice constant of the grating
● Part 2: Measuring spectral lines of Hydrogen (H)
● Determining the initial state of the electron

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 Light Spectra
● Isaac Newton (1670): shine sunlight through prism and you will
observe continuous rainbow of colors.
Yep! Still
me…

● John Herschel (1826): shine light from heated gas through

spectroscope, and you will observe monochromatic lines of
pure color on a dim/dark background.

Newton’s rainbow

Herschel’s lines

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 Discharge lamps and artificial light
● Herschel's discovery of emission
spectra from heated gas was studied
extensively in the 1800's.
● It was realized that a heated gas
emits a unique combination of
colors, called emission spectrum,
depending on its composition.
● Example: Helium gas in a
discharge lamp.

● Main idea: put a large voltage

across the gas. It will break down
and emit light. The light emitted is
composed of discrete colors.
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 Atomic spectra
● This is an example of the lines emitted from different gases

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 Interlude: Spectra in Astronomy
● In the 19th century astronomers realized that spectroscopy can
be used as a powerful tool to study stars
● 1802: William Wollaston observed sunlight separated into
colors by a prism; he noticed dark lines in the spectrum at
definite locations.
● 1817: Joseph Fraunhofer observed these spectral lines in other
stars as well. Sometimes they are the same, sometimes they
are different.

● They correspond to the absorption (not emission!) of some

wavelengths due to the most external elements of the solar gas
● Implication: The stars are made of the same stuff as Earth!
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 Interlude: How stars emit light
●
Emitted spectrum: Very hot Visible light

stellar center emits

continuous (blackbody)
radiation
● From the core all the
wavelengths are emitted (just
like a rainbow)
●
Observed spectrum: Before
arriving to us the light passes
through surface of stars
●
Gases at surface absorb light at characteristic wavelengths
●
Therefore, we detect all the wavelengths but the one
absorbed. This generates the Fraunhofer’s lines
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 Interlude: How stars emit light
● Star's absorption spectrum:

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 The Balmer formula
● J.J. Balmer discovers (1885) that the quantized (discrete) visible
emission spectrum of the hydrogen follows a mathematical
formula:
● He found the following expression for the wavelength of the
absorption lines completely empirically. He did not provide any
physical explanation for it:

● Different values of nf correspond to different line series discovered by

several scientists before Balmer himself:
● nf = 1 (Lyman Series)
● nf = 2 (Balmer Series) which is visible
● nf = 3, 4, 5, ... (Paschen, Brackett, Pfund)

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 Example: the visible spectrum
● For the Balmer series (visible
spectrum) we fix nf = 2
● If we then change ni we obtain:
● ni = 3 yields λ = 656 nm (red)
● ni = 4 yields λ = 486 nm (green)
● ni = 5 yields λ = 433 nm (blue)
NOTE: in the real experiment you
● ni = 6 yields λ = 410 nm (purple)
will perform:

1. “Green” looks bluish-green

● The Balmer’s equation 2. “Blue” looks purple
describes the observed lines 3. “Purple” looks dark violet. It
very accurately will be very hard to see…
● But what is the physics?
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 Bohr’s model for H atom
● In 1913 Neils Bohr proposed a physical model to describe the
spectrum of the hydrogen atom. It was the birth of Quantum
Mechanics!
● He hypothesizes that the angular momentum of an electron in
orbit around a proton is quantized (i.e. it can only be a discrete
multiple of a certain number):

● Under this simple assumption he managed to compute the

energy of the electron around the atom:

● As a consequence, the energy of the electron around the

nucleus is also quantized!
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 Bohr’s model for H atom
● In a real life experiment we can never measure the energy of
the electron. We can however measure differences in its energy
● Suppose that an electron makes a transition from a level ni to a
level nf (with ni > nf)
● In order to conserve energy it will have to emit a photon with
energy exactly Eγ = ΔE = Eni – Enf
● Quantum mechanically the energy of a single photon is related
to its wavelength as Eγ = hc/λ
● Therefore, the wavelength of the emitted photon is:

● This perfectly describes the spectrum of the hydrogen atom!

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 Towards Quantum Mechanics
● The Bohr’s model was a very first step
towards a new paradigm of physics
● It still had unresolved problems like:
● Could not capture some subtle properties
of H atoms
● Does not apply to other kinds of elements
● Eventually the development of Quantum
Mechanics (1920's) lead to a description of
matter that is still in agreement with
experiments today
● However, the main idea present in the
Bohr’s model remains: some physical
quantities like energy and angular
momentum can be discrete. This changes
everything!

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 Spectroscopy
● How can we measure the energy levels (spectrum) of the
hydrogen atom?
● We CANNOT measure individual energy levels!
● We ARE ABLE TO measure indirectly the transition of an electron
from one state to another.
● Absorption and emission of photons.

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 Spectroscopy
● How can we measure the energy levels (spectrum) of the
hydrogen atom?
● We CANNOT measure individual energy levels!
● We ARE ABLE TO measure indirectly the transition of an electron
from one state to another.
● Absorption and emission of photons.
● Absorption spectroscopy: Shine a range of various
wavelength radiation on a sample and measure the
wavelengths that get absorbed (excitation of atoms).
● Not the kind of spectroscopy we will use
● Emission spectroscopy: Given a sample of excited atoms,
measure the radiation that is emitted by the atoms.
● This will be the principle behind this week's experiment.

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 The emission spectrum of hydrogen
● Energy levels of the hydrogen atom:

E
0.0 eV

De-excitation of
electron results in
emission of photon

-13.6 eV

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 The emission spectrum of hydrogen
● Lyman series: It is made of all the de-excitations that end up
on the nf = 1 level
E ● Infinite number of them: ni = 2, 3, 4, ... nf = 1

0.0 eV

Unfortunately the Lyman

series is not visible with the
naked eye. Wavelengths are
in the ultraviolet region

-13.6 eV

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 The emission spectrum of hydrogen
● Balmer series: All de-excitation emissions to the nf = 2 state
● Infinite number of them: ni = 3, 4, 5... nf = 2
E

0.0 eV

Contrary to the Lymann one,

… the Balmer series is visible to
the naked eye!

-13.6 eV

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 Review: interference of light
● Question: How can we measure the wavelength of the emitted
light?
● Answer: We can use interference!
● Recall: For slits with spacing d, the condition for constructive
interference (bright spots) is:

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 Review: interference of light
● One feature of this equation is the it is wavelength dependent.

● Consequence: Each wavelength will interfere at a different

angle:

● A diffraction grating can be used as a wavelength separator!

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The Experiment

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 Main goals
● As usual this experiment is divided in two parts. The first one is
preliminary and used for “calibration”. The second one is the
actual measure of interest
● Part 1: Calibration
● Determine the lattice constant (“d” in previous eqns.) of the
diffraction grating
● Use He discharge lamp for a line with known wavelength
(effectively a calibration)
● Part 2: Balmer series
● Four visible de-excitation emission lines (i.e. wavelengths)
● Measure the angle of interference
● Calculate initial state of transition
● Tips
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 Equipment
You can rotate the
telescope tube and
change the angle θ
The diffraction grating will
This contains split the different
the excited wavelengths
gas that emits
light

The Vernier scale

allows you to read
angles with hight
precision

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 Equipment
● Light is emitted from the arc lamp and focused with a lens

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 Equipment
● When it reaches the diffraction grating, every wavelength is
deviated with a different angle. By looking at the Vernier scale
you can measure this angle

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 Reading the Vernier scale
● Vernier scale is a very precise way to measure angles.

Fine scale
(arcminutes)

Coarse scale
(degrees)

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 Reading the Vernier scale
● Vernier scale is a very precise way to measure angles.

Fine scale
(arcminutes)

Coarse scale
(degrees)

The zero of the arcminute scale will tell you how many degrees you
have rotated the apparatus. 50 degrees plus a bit more than 30
arcminutes.

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 Reading the Vernier scale
● Vernier scale is a very precise way to measure angles.

Fine scale
(arcminutes)

Coarse scale
(degrees)

Looking at when the fine scale and coarse scale align you can
determine the “little bit”. In this case, they are aligned on the 13 mark
of the fine scale. So:

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 Part 1: calibration of the grating
● Using He lamp (yellow lamp), you will determine what the
spacing between adjacent slits is.
● Three steps:
● Align so that 0th order line is at 0 degrees.
● Turn the telescope to the left, find first yellow line (m = 1) and
measure angle θL.
● Turn the telescope to the right, find first yellow line (m = 1) and
measure angle θR.
● Make sure to record errors for your angle measurements.
● Take average of both angles. Note that the angle you want to
use is the relative angle to the central maximum. This means
that your angle must be always between 0o and 90o

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 Part 1: calibration of the grating

● Take as a given the wavelength of the yellow line of He:

● Using the grating equation and setting m = 1, solve for d.

● Don't forget to propagate errors.

● Your final calibration result should be:

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 Part 2: Balmer series
● Replace the helium lamp with the hydrogen one
● Procedure:
● For the first and second order lines (m = 1 and m = 2) do:
● Measure θL and θR for each spectral line (i.e. dark-purple, purple,
greenish-blue, and red line)
● Calculate the average angle θavg
● Find the wavelengths λ for each average angle θavg, taking into
account the order m
● Determine the uncertainty σλ taking into account the error in the
angle σθ and the lattice constant σd.
● Use a weighted average between m = 1 and m = 2 to find the
final value of for each color

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 Part 2: initial energy levels

● Recall the Balmer’s formula:

● Starting from that find the initial level ( ni ) as a function of the

wavelength and the final level ( nf )
● Assuming nf = 2 find the initial value of n associated to each
observed wavelength
● You final result will be for each color

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 Tips

● I feel like this experiment requires to be careful at the following

few aspects:

1. The experiment is clearly best performed in a dark environment.

Try to screen your apparatus from ambient light in the best way
possible (e.g. using the black cloth that you will find on the table)
2. As already mentioned, the purple line will most likely look like a
dark violet one and it will be quite difficult to see it. If you are
having problems with it ask your TA. If that doesn’t solve the
problem neither, it is ok to skip it
3. Remember to always measure your angle with respect to the
central line. There are no negative angles!

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