Lecture 17

Radiation from the Electron

According to the classical electromagnetic theory, the electron
in a hydrogen atom produces electromagnetic radiation, just
like an oscillating electric dipole, with the frequency of the
radiation corresponding to that of the orbital motion f,
( )
3 / 2
0
3 / 1
2 4
0
0 0
2
2
1
4 2
1
!
"! "
f e m
E
r m
e
r
f
# =
=
Lecture 17
Classical Dilemma
The spectrum of the radiation should be continuous, with
the frequency goes as
2 / 3 !
"r f
The atom is unstable, with the electron eventually crashes
onto the proton.
Rutherfords model implies an unstable
atomic structure and is, therefore, wrong!
As the electron loses energy, its orbit shrinks and the frequency of
radiation increases, until the electron crashes onto the proton.
Lecture 17
Spectrometer
Spectrometer is an instrument that is capable of measuring the
wavelength (or frequency or energy) of each incident photon.
Lecture 17
Spectrum
A spectrum is simply a histogram of photons binned by
their wavelengths (or frequencies or energies).
Lecture 17
Spectral Components
Continuum: smooth, featureless part of a spectrum
Emission line: a discrete feature above the continuum that
is localized at a certain wavelength
Absorption line: a discrete feature below the continuum
that is localized at a certain wavelength
Observations show that each element has its own set of
characteristic spectral lines and that the formation of the
lines depends strongly on the physical conditions of the
emission region such as temperature and density.
Lecture 17
Spectral Lines
Lecture 17
Hydrogen Lines
Balmer series:
! , 5 , 4 , 3 ,
4
6 . 364
2
2
=
!
= m where nm
m
m
m
"
OR
!
"
#
$
%
&
' =
2 2
1
2
1 1
m
R
H
m
(
where
1
5810 . 109677
!
= cm R
H
is the Rydberg constant
Lecture 17
Hydrogen Lines Series
Rydberg-Ritz formula:
m n where
m n
R
H
<
!
"
#
$
%
&
' = ,
1 1 1
2 2
(
Balmer series is only a special case where n = 2
Lyman series: n=1
Paschen series: n=3
Brackett series: n=4
Pfund series: n=5
Other common series: Ritz Combination Principle:
The difference of the frequencies of
two lines in a line series is equal to the
frequency of a spectral line which
actually occur in another series from
the same atomic spectrum.
Lecture 17
Bohrs Postulates
The classical equations of motion are valid for electrons in
atoms. However, only certain discrete orbits with the
energies E
n
are allowed. These are referred to as the energy
levels of the atom.
E
m
! E
n
= hf =
hc
"
The motion of the electrons in these quantized orbits is
radiationless. An electron can be transferred from an orbit
with lower (negative) binding energy E
m
(i.e., larger r) to
an orbit with higher (negative) binding energy E
n
(smaller
r), emitting photons in the process. The frequency (or
wavelength) of the photons is given by
Lecture 17
Comparison with Experiments
To obtain the Rydberg-Ritz formula for hydrogen atoms, Bohr
identified the energy terms as
E
n
= !
Rhc
n
2
, E
m
= !
Rhc
m
2
With increasing orbital radius r, the laws of the quantum
atomic physics approaches those of classical physics, i.e.,
Correspondence Principle.
where n and m are referred to as principal quantum numbers.
It is show to see, using the first postulate, that the orbital radius
is proportional to the principle quantum number squared.
Lecture 17
Classical Limit
Considering the emission of photons according to the first
two postulates for a transition between neighboring orbits,
i.e., for m n = 1, and for large n (or m). We get
hf = Rhc
1
n
2
!
1
m
2
"
#
$
%
= Rhc
1
n
2
!
1
(n +1)
2
"
#
&
$
%
'
= Rhc
2n +1
n
2
(n +1)
2
For large n, we have
f !
2Rc
n
3
Lecture 17
Comparison with Classical Physics
( )
3 / 2
0
3 / 1
2 4
0
2
1
!
f e m
E " =
Applying the correspondence principle, for very large n (or
orbital radius), we know that the frequency of the emitted
photons is equal to that of the orbital motion.
Also, according to the classical theory, the total energy of
an electron is given by
Plugging in the expression for f and comparing it to the
formula in quantum theory (i.e., Bohrs second postulate),
Lecture 17
Deriving Rydberg Constant
We have
Rhc
n
2
=
1
2
m
0
e
4
( )
1/3
!
0
2/3
2Rc
n
3
"
#
$
%
2/3
finally,
R =
m
0
e
4
8!
0
2
h
3
c
= 109737.318 cm
"1
R
H
= 109677.5810 cm
!1
which is slightly different from