Determine the end value of n in a hydrogen atom transition, if the electron starts in n=4 and the atom emits a photo of light with a wavelength of 486 nm.
*The answer given is 2, but I don't know how they got there.
1 answer
The answer is 2 because the energy of the photon emitted is equal to the energy difference between the two energy levels. The energy difference between n=4 and n=2 is equal to the energy of the photon emitted, which is equal to 486 nm. Therefore, the end value of n is 2.