Try it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
A sample of hydrogen atoms, all in the ground state, is lit with light of wavelength . Some atoms take in one photon each and are lifted to a higher orbit. They then fall back to the ground state by every possible path. The energy of orbit is ; take visible light as to . Take , , and .
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
(a) The orbit. One photon carries . So , which gives : the atoms reach .
(b) Lines. Every pair of the levels 1, 2, 3 and 4 gives one line: lines.
(c) Longest wavelength. The smallest gap is from to : , so , in the infrared.
(d) Visible lines. The lines ending on are in the ultraviolet and the one from 4 to 3 is in the infrared. The two ending on are at (from 4) and (from 3), both visible. So lines are visible.
(e) Photoelectrons. The shortest line, from 4 to 1, carries . So . Its momentum is , and
Check. From the Rydberg formula, the line from 4 to 3 has , a wavelength within a few nanometres of the same value (the two sets of constants differ slightly).
Watch out. One atom can give out at most three photons on its way down, but the sample, with many atoms taking different paths, shows all six lines.
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