[firestorm]

  Hi,
I am currently taking an AP Chemistry class in high school and unfortunately the good tacher retired one year b4 I could take it. This problem wasn't solved by my chem teacher and she spent all period on it. Any help would be great.

One of the emission lines of the hydrogen atom has a wavelength of 93.8 nm. (A) In what region of the electromagnetic spectrum is this emission found? (B) Determine the initial and final values of n associated with this emission.

This question is in the back of the book since it's odd, The answer for A is easy enough and is UV. B is n_i=6 and n_f=1

What I don't get is B. My teacher worked it down to:
-0.97269=1-(1/n²)
Does anyone get this? How do I get 6 for n?

Thanks in advance, and sorry that its a bit long.

-fire

[lemonoman]

Always helps to watch your units, values, etc...I think they're good here, but they often give people trouble in the Rydberg Equation...



R_H = 109,737.3 cm^?1

You have n₁ = 1

(sometimes it gets confusing which side of the equation n1 and n2 go on...just remember that you should get a positive wavelength, and ALWAYS double-check your answer....then it should be fine)

And you should be able to go from there...

[Donaldson Tan]

What I don't get is B. My teacher worked it down to:
-0.97269=1-(1/n²)

I don't think your teacher's answer is correct, because it suggest that 1/n² = 1 + 0.97269

since n>1 then 1/n² must be between 0 and 1

lemonoman's method is the correct way. Your job is to find n₂