Question Video: Determining the Series Name for Electron Transitions to Energy Level 3 Physics • Third Year of Secondary School

Video Transcript

The diagram shows four possible transitions that an electron can make between the energy levels of a hydrogen atom. What name is given to this series of transitions?

Here, the four transitions are represented by four arrows, and notice that all of them point to the third energy level. So these are transitions to the third energy level, starting from levels four, five, six, and seven. And they’re all categorized as part of what’s called the Paschen series. This series was named after a physicist who studied the resulting spectral lines, which are within the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Thus, the name of the series that’s represented in the diagram of downward transitions to the third energy level is the Paschen series.