Physics307L:People/Cordova/Matt's Balmer Series Lab Summary
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My partner for this lab was Sebastian
The notebook for this lab can be found here.
SJK 13:57, 22 October 2010 (EDT)
Purpose
- Obtain the physical quantity known as the Rydberg constant through the measurement of spectral lines produced by hydrogen gas in an excited state.
Safety
- The tubes are made of glass, and they should be handled with care.
- Glass tubes can get hot after even minimal use. Use caution when handling immediately after use.
Equipment
- Spectrometer - Adam Hilger; London, England; Serial: 12610
- Spectrum Tube Power Supply - Model: SP200 (5000V;10mA; Electro-Technic Products)
- Mercury Tube
- Hydrogen Tube
- Deuterium Tube
Set Up
- Place spectrometer and lamp on a sturdy, flat surface.
- Elevate the lamp to the point where the thinner part of the glass tube (while placed in the lamp) is level with the eye sight of the spectrometer. We used a stack of books.
- Fiddle with spectrometer until you obtain desirable cross hair position and preferred slit width.
- Note: A thinner slit yields more accurate results, but sacrifices visibility.
Results
SJK 13:56, 22 October 2010 (EDT)
With our data, the results came out to be
- [math]\displaystyle{ R_{calc Hydrogen} = (10976969 +/- 7304)m^{-1} }[/math]
- [math]\displaystyle{ R_{calc Deuterium} = (10989761 +/- 1736)m^{-1} }[/math]
The accepted values for these constants are given in the Google doc, and are
- [math]\displaystyle{ R_{hydrogen}=10967758.3406 m^{-1} }[/math]
- [math]\displaystyle{ R_{deuterium}=10970746.1986 m^{-1} }[/math]
Our result for [math]\displaystyle{ R_{hydrogen} }[/math] is within 2 SEM. Our result for [math]\displaystyle{ R_{deuterium} }[/math] is within 11 SEM.