Hydrogen Transitions Quick Question

[orangepeelsnice]

Hello everyone!

I have a question about the possible transitions for a hydrogen atom from an excited state back to the ground state.

Lets say that a H atom is in the n = 4 excited state, what are the possible transitions back to n = 1?

I thought the answer was:
4 -> 3
4 -> 2
4 -> 1
but then I guess we need to include:
3->2
3->1
2->1

si?

cheers,

Nick

 

[DrClaude]

I thought the answer was:
4 -> 3
4 -> 2
4 -> 1

But the first and second possibilities you listed there don't end in n = 1. So yes, you have to include all "cascading" transitions.

 

[orangepeelsnice]

sweet, thank you