(4103) Physics II (Atomic and Nuclear Physics) Lecture 1

Atomic Physics

1-Atomic Spectra of Gases

All objects emit thermal radiation characterized by a continuous distribution of
wavelengths. In sharp contrast to this continuous distribution spectrum is the discrete
line spectrum observed when a low-pressure gas undergoes an electric discharge.
(Electric discharge occurs when the gas is subject to a potential difference that creates
an electric field greater than the dielectric strength of the gas.) Observation and
analysis of these spectral lines is called emission spectroscopy.
When the light from a gas discharge is examined using a spectrometer, it is found to
consist of a few bright lines of color on a generally dark background.
Another form of spectroscopy very useful in analyzing substances is absorption
spectroscopy. An absorption spectrum is obtained by passing white light from a
continuous source through a gas or a dilute solution of the element being analyzed.
The absorption spectrum of an element has many practical applications. For example,
the continuous spectrum of radiation emitted by the Sun must pass through the cooler
gases of the solar atmosphere. The various absorption lines observed in the solar
spectrum have been used to identify elements in the solar atmosphere. In early studies
of the solar spectrum, experimenters found some lines that did not correspond to any
known element. A new element had been discovered!
The new element was named helium, after the Greek word for Sun, helios. Helium
was subsequently isolated from subterranean gas on the Earth.
Using this technique, scientists have examined the light from stars other than our Sun
and have never detected elements other than those present on the Earth.
Absorption spectroscopy has also been useful in analyzing heavy-metal contamination
of the food chain. For example, the first determination of high levels of mercury in
tuna was made with the use of atomic absorption spectroscopy.
In 1885, a Swiss schoolteacher, Johann Jacob Balmer (1825–1898), found an
empirical equation that correctly predicted the wavelengths of four visible emission
lines of hydrogen: H α (red), H β (bluegreen), H γ (blue-violet), and H δ (violet). Figure
1 shows these and other lines (in the ultraviolet) in the emission spectrum of

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(4103) Physics II (Atomic and Nuclear Physics) Lecture 1

Figure 1 The Balmer series of spectral lines for

atomic hydrogen, with several lines marked
with the wavelength in nanometers. (The
horizontal wavelength axis is not to scale.)

hydrogen. The four visible lines occur at the wavelengths 656.3 nm, 486.1 nm, 434.1
nm, and 410.2 nm. The complete set of lines is called the Balmer series. The wave-
lengths of these lines can be described by the following equation, which is a
modification made by Johannes Rydberg (1854–1919) of Balmer’s original equation:
1
λ (
1 1
)
=R H 2 − 2 n=3 , 4 , 5 , … Balmer series
2 n
(1)

where R H is a constant now called the Rydberg constant with a value of

7 −1
1.0973732 ×10 m . The integer values of n from 3 to 6 give the four visible lines
from 656.3 nm (red) down to 410.2 nm (violet). Equation 1 also describes the
ultraviolet spectral lines in the Balmer series if n is carried out beyond n=6. The
series limit is the shortest wavelength in the series and corresponds to n → ∞, with
a wavelength of 364.6 nm as in Figure 1. The measured spectral lines agree with the
empirical equation, Equation 1, to within 0.1%.
Other lines in the spectrum of hydrogen were found following Balmer’s discovery.
These spectra are called the Lyman, Paschen, and Brackett series after their
discoverers. The wavelengths of the lines in these series can be calculated through
the use of the following empirical equations:

1
λ ( ) 1
=R H 1− 2 n=2 ,3 , 4 , … Lyman series
n
(2)

1
λ
=R
(H
3 n )
1 1
− n=4 ,5 , 6 , … Paschen series
2 2 (3)

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(4103) Physics II (Atomic and Nuclear Physics) Lecture 1

1
λ (
1 1
)
=R H 2 − 2 n=5 ,6 ,7 ,… Brachett series
4 n
(4)

2-Bohr’s Model of the Hydrogen Atom

In 1913 Niels Bohr presented a new model of the hydrogen atom that circumvented
the difficulties of Rutherford’s planetary model. Bohr applied Planck’s ideas of
quantized energy levels to Rutherford’s orbiting atomic electrons.
Bohr’s theory was historically important to the development of quantum physics, and
it appeared to explain the spectral line series described by Equations 1 through 4.
Although Bohr’s model is now considered obsolete and has been completely replaced
by a probabilistic quantum-mechanical theory, we can use the Bohr model to develop
the notions of energy quantization and angular momentum quantization as applied to
atomic-sized systems.

Figure 2 (a) Rutherford’s technique for observing the scattering of alpha particles from a thin
foil target. The source is a naturally occurring radioactive substance, such as radium. (b) Rutherford’s
planetary model of the atom.

Bohr combined ideas from Planck’s original quantum theory, Einstein’s concept of
the photon, Rutherford’s planetary model of the atom, and Newtonian mechanics to
arrive at a semiclassical structural model based on some revolutionary ideas.
The structural model of the Bohr theory as it applies to the hydrogen atom has the
following properties:
1. Physical components: The electron moves in circular orbits around the proton
under the influence of the electric force of attraction as shown in Figure 3.

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(4103) Physics II (Atomic and Nuclear Physics) Lecture 1

Figure 4 The first three circular orbits predicted by Figure 3 Diagram representing Bohr’s model of
the Bohr model of the hydrogen atom. the hydrogen atom.

2. Behavior of the components:

(a) Only certain electron orbits are stable. When in one of these stationary states, as
Bohr called them, the electron does not emit energy in the form of radiation, even
though it is accelerating. Hence, the total energy of the atom remains constant and
classical mechanics can be used to describe the electron’s motion. Bohr’s model
claims that the centripetally accelerated electron does not continuously emit radiation,
losing energy and eventually spiraling into the nucleus, as predicted by classical
physics in the form of Rutherford’s planetary model.
(b) The atom emits radiation when the electron makes a transition from a more
energetic initial stationary state to a lower-energy stationary state.
This transition cannot be visualized or treated classically. In particular, the frequency f
of the photon emitted in the transition is related to the change in the atom’s energy
and is not equal to the frequency of the electron’s orbital motion. The frequency of the
emitted radiation is found from the energy-conservation expression
Ei −Ef =hf (5)
where Ei is the energy of the initial state, E f is the energy of the final state, and Ei > E f
. In addition, energy of an incident photon can be absorbed by the atom, but only if
the photon has an energy that exactly matches the difference in energy between an
allowed state of the atom and a higher-energy state. Upon absorption, the photon
disappears and the atom makes a transition to the higher-energy state.

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(4103) Physics II (Atomic and Nuclear Physics) Lecture 1

(c) The size of an allowed electron orbit is determined by a condition imposed on the
electron’s orbital angular momentum: the allowed orbits are those for which the
electron’s orbital angular momentum about the nucleus is quantized and equal to an
integral multiple of ℏ=h/2 π ,
me υr=nℏ n=1 ,2 , 3 , … (6)
where me is the electron mass, υ is the electron’s speed in its orbit, and r is the orbital
radius.
The electric potential energy of the system shown in Figure 3 is given
2
U =k e q1 q2 /r =−k e e /r , where k e is the Coulomb constant and the negative sign
arises from the charge −e on the electron. Therefore, the total energy of the atom,
which consists of the electron’s kinetic energy and the system’s potential energy, is
2
1 2 e
E=K +U= m e υ❑−k e (7)
2 r
The electron is modeled as a particle in uniform circular motion, so the electric force
2 2
k e e /r exerted on the electron must equal the product of its mass and its centripetal

acceleration ( ac =υ /r ):
2

2 2
ke e me υ
2
=
r r
2
2 ke e
υ= (8)
me r
From Equation 8, we find that the kinetic energy of the electron is
2
1 2 kee
K= me υ❑=
2 2r
Substituting this value of K into Equation 7 gives the following expression for the
total energy of the atom:
2
−k e e
E= (9)
2r
Because the total energy is negative, which indicates a bound electron–proton system,
energy in the amount of k e e 2 /2 r must be added to the atom to remove the electron
and make the total energy of the system zero.
We can obtain an expression for r, the radius of the allowed orbits, by solving
Equation 6 for υ 2 and equating it to Equation 8:

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(4103) Physics II (Atomic and Nuclear Physics) Lecture 1

2 2 2
2 n ℏ ke e
υ = 2 2=
me r me r
2 2
nℏ
rn = 2
n=1 ,2 , 3 , … (10)
me k e e
Equation 10 shows that the radii of the allowed orbits have discrete values: they are
quantized. The result is based on the assumption that the electron can exist only in
certain allowed orbits determined by the integer n (Bohr’s Property 2(c)).
The orbit with the smallest radius, called the Bohr radius a 0 , corresponds to n=1
and has the value
2
ℏ
a 0= 2
=0.0529 nm (11)
me k e e
Substituting Equation 11 into Equation 10 gives a general expression for the radius of
any orbit in the hydrogen atom:
2 2
r n =n a0=n ( 0.0529 nm ) , n=1 , 2 ,3 , … (12)
Bohr’s theory predicts a value for the radius of a hydrogen atom on the right order of
magnitude, based on experimental measurements. This result was a striking triumph
for Bohr’s theory. The first three Bohr orbits are shown to scale in Figure 4.
The quantization of orbit radii leads to energy quantization. Substituting r n =n2 a0 into
Equation 9 gives
2

( )
−k e e 1
En = n=1 , 2, 3 , … (13)
2 a0 n2
−13.606 eV
En = 2
n=1 ,2 , 3 , … (14)
n
Zero energy ( E=0 corresponds to the uppermost level for n=∞ and r =∞) represents
the boundary between a bound system of an electron and a proton and an unbound
system. If the energy of the atom is raised from that of the ground state to any energy
larger than zero, the atom is ionized. The minimum energy required to ionize the
atom in its ground state is called the ionization energy. As can be seen from Figure 5,
the ionization energy for hydrogen in the ground state, based on Bohr’s calculation, is
13.6 eV.
This finding constituted another major achievement for the Bohr theory because the
ionization energy for hydrogen had already been measured to be 13.6 eV.
Equations 5 and 13 can be used to calculate the frequency of the photon emitted when
the electron makes a transition from an outer orbit to an inner orbit:

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(4103) Physics II (Atomic and Nuclear Physics) Lecture 1

( )
Ei−E f k e e 1 1
f= = − (15)
h 2 a0 h n2f n2i
2

( )
1 f kee 1 1
= = − (16)
λ c 2 a 0 hc n2f n 2i

Remarkably, this expression, which is purely theoretical, is identical to the general

form of the empirical relationships discovered by Balmer and Rydberg. The constant
2
k e e /2 a 0 hc is equal to the experimentally determined Rydberg constant.
In general, the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom is called the atomic
number of the element and is given the symbol Z. To describe a single electron
orbiting a fixed nucleus of charge +Ze, Bohr’s theory gives
a0
r n =( n )
2
(17)
Z

( )
2
−k e e Z
2
En = 2
n=1 , 2, 3 , … (18)
2 a0 n

Figure 5 An energy-level diagram for the hydrogen atom. Quantum

numbers are given on the left, and energies (in electron volts) are given on
the right. Vertical arrows represent the four lowest-energy transitions for
each of the spectral series shown.

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(4103) Physics II (Atomic and Nuclear Physics) Lecture 1

Example 1 Electronic Transitions in Hydrogen

(A) The electron in a hydrogen atom makes a transition from the n=2 energy level to
the ground level n=1. Find the wavelength and frequency of the emitted photon.

( ) ( )
1 1 1 1 1 3 RH 4 4
=R H 2 − 2 =R H 2 − 2 = ⇒ λ= = =122nm
λ nf n i 1 2 4 3 R H 3 ( 1.097 × 107 m−1 )

(B) In interstellar space, highly excited hydrogen atoms called Rydberg atoms have
been observed. Find the wavelength to which radio astronomers must tune to detect
signals from electrons dropping from the n = 273 level to the n = 272 level.

1
λ (
1 1
=R H 2 − 2 =R H
nf n i ) (
1
2
−
272 273
1
2 )
−8
=9.88 ×10 R H ⇒ λ=
1
=
1
9.88× 10 R H 9.88 ×10 . ( 1.097 × 107 m−1 )
−8 −8
=

(C) What is the radius of the electron orbit for a Rydberg atom for which n = 273?
2 2 2
r n =n a0=n ( 0.0529 nm )= (273 ) . ( 0.0529 nm )=3.94 μm

(D) How fast is the electron moving in a Rydberg atom for which n = 273?

√ √
2 2
ke e ( 9× 109 N . m2 /C2 ) . ( 1.6 ×10−19 C ) 3
υ= = =8.01× 10 m/s
me r ( 9.11×10 kg ) . ( 3.94 ×10 m )
−31 −6

What if radiation from the Rydberg atom in part (B) is treated classically? What is the
wavelength of radiation emitted by the atom in the n = 273 level?
3
1 υ 8.01 ×10 m/s 8
f= = = =3.24 × 10 Hz
T 2 πr 2 ×3.14 ×3.94 ×10−6 m
8
c 3 ×10 m/s
λ= = =0.927 m
f 3.24 × 108 Hz

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(4103) Physics II (Atomic and Nuclear Physics) Lecture 1

Problems:

1-The Balmer series for the hydrogen atom corresponds to electronic transitions that
terminate in the state with quantum number n = 2 as shown in the figure. Consider the
photon of longest wavelength corresponding to a transition shown in the figure.
Determine (a) its energy and (b) its wavelength. Consider the spectral line of shortest
wavelength corresponding to a transition shown in the figure. Find (c) its photon
energy and (d) its wavelength. (e) What is the shortest possible wavelength in the
Balmer series? (Ans. (a) 1.89 eV, (b) 656 nm, (c) 3.40 eV, (d) 365 nm, (e) 365 nm).

2-For a hydrogen atom in its ground state, compute (a) the orbital speed of the
electron, (b) the kinetic energy of the electron, and (c) the electric potential energy of
the atom. (Ans. (a) 2.19 × 106 m/s, (b) 13.6 eV, (c) −27.2 eV ).