Question

Somebody please explain the spectrum of Hydrogen

Answer 1

Quantum mechanics dictates that electrons only have specific states in which they can orbit an atom. If a photon passes by an atom it will most likely pass near an electron. If that photon has energy to exactly move the photon up an energy level (or two, three, etc) then it will do so. The energy between energy levels is very specific, and photons will only have the right energy at specific colors (frequencies). Therefore if you shine white light on a sample of hydrogen it will absorb certain colors and let the rest through. If you excite hydrogen gas to a certain limit with electricity it will only emit those colors.

Answer 2

To add on to vannak's answer, the Hydrogen Spectrum is the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation that is emitted by an electron returning to a lower energy state. For this to occur, an electron in the hydrogen atom must be in an excited state (i.e. not ground state or the lowest energy state). The ground state in a hydrogen atom is the most stable orbital in which the electron can reside. In order for an excited electron to reach the ground state, it must emit some energy, which takes the form of a photon. The energy of a photon is given by:\[E = h*f\], where h is Planck's constant and f is the frequency. Because the difference in energy states in a hydrogen atom are quantized, the values of energy emitted will always be a certain value. Therefore, all emitted photons going from one given energy state to another must have the same frequency, if the initial and final energy states are the same. This is true if there are 1,2 10 or a billion hydrogen atoms. So, the Hydrogen Spectrum is the observable effects of this phenomenon en mass.

Fun Fact: We know that the sun is mostly comprised of hydrogen due to the Hydrogen Spectrum.

Answer 3

good