Atomic Physics

The wave number (in cm ) of any transition in the hydrogen atom can be found using the Rydberg formula for the Balmer series: where: - is the Rydberg constant for hydrogen ( ), - is the lower energy level for the transition, - is the higher energy level for the transition. For the longest wavelength transition in the Balmer series, the transition occurs from to . Thus, we can calculate the wave number: Therefore, the wave number for the longest wavelength transition in the Balmer series of the hydrogen spectrum is .