Translated from Russian to English - www.onlinedoctranslator.

com

Lab #19

DEFINITION OF THE RYDBERG CONSTANT

Instruments and accessories:

Monochromator UM-2, mercury and hydrogen tubes with power

sources.

Introduction

The whole set our information about optical phenomena

indicates that the emission of light is due to processes in which the

electrons that make up the atom take part. The emission of light by an atom
obeys quantum laws, which are based on two postulates of Bohr:

1. An atom is characterized by known states in which radiation is not

takes place even if the charged particles of an atom are in mutual motion.
These states can be called stationary, the angular momentum of electrons
on which satisfies the condition:

mvr=n (1)

Wheremis the mass of the electron,v is the electron linear velocity

modulus,r- electron orbit radius,nis the stationary orbit number (n=1, 2,…), is
Planck's constant.

2. Any radiation or absorption of energy by an atom must

correspond to the transition from one stationary state to another. During such
transitions, monochromatic radiation is emitted or absorbed, the frequency of
which ν is determined by the relationship:

hν=En−Em (2)

ω=En−Em
 WhereEnAndEmare the energies of the system in the first and second stationary

states,his Planck's constant, Andω- linear and cyclic frequency

electromagnetic radiation.
By successively applying Bohr's postulates to the radiation of a hydrogen atom,

it can be shown that the lines in the spectrum of a hydrogen atom fit into a simple

relation:

⎛1 1⎞
=R⎜ − , (3)
⎝n2 m2⎟⎠

1
where = is the wavenumber (the reciprocal of the wavelengthλ), measured in
λ
inverse centimeters (cm-1),Ris the Rydberg constant,nAndmare quantum
numbers, taking integer values, and alwaysm > n.
Relation (3) was obtained empiricallyBalmeratn=2, am = 3.4…, who was
the first to study the visible region of the spectrum of the hydrogen atom.
Later it was shown that the hydrogen lines lying in the ultraviolet and
infrared parts of the spectrum also fit into similar shapes, namely: the series
Lyman(in the far ultraviolet region) into the formula:

⎛1 1⎞
=R⎜ − ⎟ , atn=1 m=2.3...,
⎝12 m2⎠

seriesPashen(in the near infrared region) into the formula:

⎛1 1⎞
=R⎜ − ⎟ , atn=3 m=4.5 ...,
⎝32 m2⎠

seriesBracket(in more distant infrared region)

⎛1 1⎞
=R ⎜ − ⎟ , forn=4 m=5.6 ...,
⎝42 m2⎠

seriespfunda(even farther in infrared)

⎛1 1⎞
=R⎜ − ⎟ , forn=5 m=6.7 ...
⎝52 m2⎠
 Formula (3), which describes all the observed lines in the spectrum of the

hydrogen atom, is called the generalized Balmer formula.

The purpose of this work is to determine the constantRydbergR

measurement of wavelengths in the visible region of the spectrum of the
hydrogen atom using the Balmer formula.

1 ⎛1 1⎞
= =R⎜ − ⎟ , atn=2 m=3.4 (4)
λ ⎝22 m2⎠

The visible part of the line spectrum of hydrogen (Balmer series)

consists of a number of lines, the brightest of which are the following four:
redΗα(m=3), blueΗβ(m=4), purpleΗγ(m=5),Ηδ(m=6).

Description of the setup and measurement technique

To obtain the line spectrum of the hydrogen atom, a UM-2 monochromator is used in

the work. The scheme of the installation and its general view are shown in Figs. 2, 3.

Rice. 2. Installation diagram

 Rice. 3. General view of the laboratory setup

It consists of a monochromator 1, a mercury lamp 2 with a starter 3 and a

hydrogen lamp 4 with a power supply 5.
The main parts of the monochromator are collimator 6, prism stage 7
with a rotary mechanism 8, and exit tube 9.
The light from the source is focused by the condenser 10 on the collimator slit, the

width of which is adjusted by the screw 11.

In this case, the source, condenser and slot must be located coaxially.
Further, the light, passing through the dispersive system of the prism table
7, decomposes into a spectrum, and its individual sections can be
introduced into the field of view of the output tube 9 by a rotary mechanism
8. The spectrum is observed through the eyepiece 12 of the output tube. In
the focal plane of the output pipe 9 there is a pointer, a sharp image of
which against the background of the spectrum is achieved by turning the
ocular drum 12. The pointer is illuminated by a light bulb through
replaceable filters in a revolving frame 13, which is powered by a
transformer 14 of the starting device 3 through a switch 15. To obtain a
sharp image of the spectrum lines in the focal plane of the output tube 9,
the monochromator is provided with a focusing device, by rotating the
drum 16 of which any line of the spectrum can be focused.
line of the spectrum by rotating the rotary mechanism 8, it is possible to fix the

position of the line in the spectrum on the scale of the rotary mechanism against the

index 17 sliding along the spiral groove. The view of the scale of the rotary

mechanism is shown in Fig.4.

Rice. 4. View of the scale of the rotary mechanism

Before measuring the wavelengths of the desired lines in the hydrogen

spectrum, it is necessary to calibrate the monochromator according to the known
spectrum of mercury. To do this, a mercury lamp 2 is placed in front of the
condenser 10 (Fig. 2) and connected to the starting device 3. Applying a voltage of
220 V to the starting device 3, the lamp is lit by pressing the button 18, having
previously set the switch 19 to the "on" position. The slot width is set to about 0.01
- 0.02 (mm) by turning the screw 11, a sharp image of the pointer and lines of the
mercury spectrum in the focal plane of the outlet pipe 9 is obtained according to
the method described above and proceed to determine the position on the scale
of the rotary mechanism 8 against index 17. To calibrate the monochromator, it is
enough to find the position of the brightest lines of the mercury spectrum, the
wavelengths of which are given in Table 1. In order to provide more
accurate construction of a calibration graph, the lines of the mercury spectrum must

always be brought to the pointer from one side, either on the left or on the right. The

data obtained are used to construct a calibration curve of the monochromator, plotting

along the abscissa axis the readings on the scale of the rotary mechanism, and along the

ordinate axis the corresponding values of the wavelengths of the mercury lines.

Table 1
Spectrum of mercury

No. Wavelength
Color Brightness
p/p (Å)
1 6907 Dark red Medium

2 6716 Dark red Weak

3 6234 Red Medium

4 6123 Red Weak

5 6073 red-orange Weak
6 5790.7 Yellow Bright

7 5769.6 Yellow Bright

8 5460.7 Green Very bright

9 4960 blue green Medium

10 4916.4 blue green Medium

eleven 4358.3 Blue Very bright

12 4347.5 Blue Medium

13 4339 Blue Medium

14 4078.1 Violet Medium

15 4046.8 Violet Bright

To measure the wavelengths of the lines in the spectrum of the hydrogen atom,

it is necessary to put a hydrogen lamp 4 in front of the monochromator slit (see Fig.

2), connect it to the power supply 5 using fittings 21 and connect the unit
power supply to the mains 220 V. The lamp is turned on by switch 20. The appearance

of the laboratory setup for studying the hydrogen spectrum is shown in fig. 5.

Rice. 5. View of the setup for studying the spectrum of hydrogen

The position of the lines of the hydrogen spectrum on the scale of the rotary
mechanism 8 must be determined in the same way as it was done for the lines
of the mercury spectrum. You need to start searching for the right lines with a
red Hαintense line of hydrogen. It is easy to find and cannot be confused with
molecular bands in the spectrum. Second line Hβ- green-blue. Between Hαand
Hβlies a series of red-yellow molecular bands, weak compared to both desired
lines. Before line Hβthere are still faint, diffuse dark green molecular bands.
Third line Hγ- purple. This line is preceded by still faint, smeared purple stripes.
Having determined the position of the indicated hydrogen lines on the scale of
the rotary mechanism, the values of their wavelengths are found according to
the calibration graph. The found values of wavelengths (λα, λβ, λγ) hydrogen
lines make it possible, by formula (4), to find the value of the Rydberg constant
for each of them.
 Work order
The work must be done in the following sequence:
1. Carefully read the description of the installation and the methodology

measurements on it.

2. Light a mercury lamp, focus its radiation spectrum and

eyepiece pointer in the focal plane of the exit tube.
3. Measure the position of the main lines (specified in
table) of the spectrum of mercury on the scale of the rotary mechanism and present them in the

form of a table.

4. Construct a calibration curve of the monochromator according to the data

point 3, choosing an appropriate scale for this.

5. Light the hydrogen lamp and determine the position of the lines (Hα, Hβ,

Hγ) of the hydrogen spectrum on the scale of the rotary mechanism of the monochromator.

6. Using the calibration curve and the data of point 5, find

wavelengths (λα, λβ, λγ) of the corresponding hydrogen lines, and using formula

(4) calculate the Rydberg constant for each of them.

7. Find the mean value of the Rydberg constant and evaluate

error in its definition.

Literature

1. S.E. Frish, A.V. Timoreva. Course of General Physics // St. Petersburg:

Lan Publishing House, 2006, v.3, §§ 341, 342.

2. D.V. Sivukhin. General course of physics // M.: Fizmatlit, MIPT Publishing

House, 2002, v.5, §§ 26-30, 33.