Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A Strategic Approach with Modern Physics (3rd Edition)

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0321740904
ISBN 13: 978-0-32174-090-8

Chapter 41 - Atomic Physics - Exercises and Problems - Page 1247: 51

Answer

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Work Step by Step

$$\color{blue}{\bf [a]}$$ We start with the relation between the energy of a photon and its wavelength: $$ E = \frac{hc}{\lambda} $$ Now, consider two closely spaced energy levels with a small energy difference $ \Delta E $. The corresponding wavelengths will also be slightly different, and we want to calculate the wavelength difference $ \Delta \lambda $. For a small change in energy, we can express the change in wavelength by differentiating $ E = \dfrac{hc}{\lambda} $ with respect to $ \lambda $: $$ dE = -\frac{hc}{\lambda^2} d\lambda $$ Rearranging this equation to express $ d\lambda $ (which is $ \Delta \lambda $): $$ \Delta \lambda = -\frac{\lambda^2}{hc} \Delta E $$ Since we are only interested in the magnitude of the wavelength difference, we drop the negative sign: $$ \boxed{\Delta \lambda = \frac{\lambda^2}{hc} \Delta E}\tag 1 $$ $$\color{blue}{\bf [b]}$$ We need to use the boxed formula above which we just derived. The energy levels of the hydrogen atom (in eV) are given by the formula: $$ E_n = \dfrac{-13.6 }{n^2} $$ The energy difference between the two transitions is $$ \Delta E = E_{21} - E_{20} = \frac{-13.6}{21^2} - \left[\frac{-13.6}{20^2} \right] $$ $$ \Delta E = \frac{-13.6}{21^2} + \frac{13.6}{20^2} \tag 2 $$ Now we need to find $\lambda_{21\to 1}$ where we know that $$ \lambda_{21\to 1} = \dfrac{hc}{\Delta E_{21\to1}} $$ Plug the known; $$ \lambda_{21\to 1} = \dfrac{(6.63\times 10^{-34})(3\times 10^8)}{ \left(\frac{-13.6}{21^2} + \frac{13.6}{1^2} \right)(1.6\times 10^{-19}) }$$ $$ \lambda_{21\to 1}=\bf 91.61 \;\rm nm\tag 3 $$ Plug (2) and (3) into (1); $$ \Delta \lambda = \frac{(91.61 \times 10^{-9})^2}{(6.63\times 10^{-34})(3\times 10^8)}\left[ \frac{-13.6}{21^2} + \frac{13.6}{20^2}\right](1.6\times 10^{-19}) $$ $$\Delta \lambda=\color{red}{\bf 0.0213}\;\rm nm$$
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