The Balmer series provided the clue to the structure of the hydrogen atom, the simplest atom with only one electron. From that we learned about the structure of all atoms, even those more complex than uranium with its 92 electrons, the heaviest of the natural elements. This series ends on the lowest energy state with n=2 and starts with any state above it. The first line of the Balmer series arises when the atom changes from a state with n=3 to one with n=2. The second line comes from the change from n=4 to n=2, and so on. 3. Suppose that you could measure accurately the wavelengths of the first two lines of the Balmer series. How could you use those measurements to predict the wavelength of the first line of the Paschen series, the ones ending on n=3? This is the method by which we measure the energy levels of atoms experimentally.
The Balmer series provided the clue to the structure of the hydrogen atom, the simplest atom with only one electron. From that we learned about the structure of all atoms, even those more complex than uranium with its 92 electrons, the heaviest of the natural elements. This series ends on the lowest energy state with n=2 and starts with any state above it. The first line of the Balmer series arises when the atom changes from a state with n=3 to one with n=2. The second line comes from the change from n=4 to n=2, and so on.
3. Suppose that you could measure accurately the wavelengths of the first two lines of the Balmer series. How could you use those measurements to predict the wavelength of the first line of the Paschen series, the ones ending on n=3? This is the method by which we measure the energy levels of atoms experimentally.
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