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 possible transitions
are represented by four arrows, each pointing between an initial and final energy
level. And according to the diagram, the
transitions start from levels three, four, five, and six, all moving down to level
two. All of these transitions are
categorized under the same series because they mark downward transitions to the
second energy level.
This series is named the Balmer
series, and its corresponding emission spectrum is quite useful in fields like
astronomy. For instance, stars with surface
temperatures around 10000 kelvin are observed to have more active Balmer series
emissions than other types of hydrogen emission series. So the series in which electrons
transition down from a higher energy level to the second energy level is known as
the Balmer series.
