Atomic Line Spectra Lab Report

The purpose of this lab was to figure out what the relationship between atomic line spectra and atomic structure is by using spectroscope scale reading methods to explore the lights emitted by different hydrogen or metals in heated in a flame. During part one, the spectroscope was calibrated to correct for systematic error by comparing the experimental wavelengths to the known or provided wavelength. The scale positions of the different colored lines: violet, blue,yellow, and green were recorded. The calibration curve was prepared by using the known wavelengths that were provided. By plotting the wavelength obtained vs the spectroscope scale reading, a calibration line was obtained, which helps to find any wavelength for any spectroscope reading.

The colors that were brightly emitted in the spectroscope were the colors violet, blue, yellow, and green.Then, the spectroscope readings from part one were taken and plugged into the equation to get wavelengths of: violet-436, blue-485, green-534, and yellow-583. Compared to the actual accepted wavelengths, the percent errors were relatively high: violet-6.34%, blue-11.98%, green-10.08%, and yellow-11.13%. These wavelengths were used to calculate the energy emitted and the thus the initial energy levels could be determined. When a photon is absorbed by a hydrogen atom, the energy from the photon causes the electron to move from one energy level to another, whereas if a photon is emitted, the electron transitions from a high energy level to a low one. Thus, the emission spectrum is made up of wavelengths that show the differences in energy levels. The violet light went from a transition of n=5 to n=2 and blue transitioned from n=4 to n=2. Also, green transitioned down from n=4 to n=2 and lastly yellow transitioned from n=4 to n=2 as well. However, due to the high percent errors, these were not the correct transition states. For violet, it should have been from n=6 to n=2, resulting in the shortest wavelength but highest energy. Blue should have transitioned from n=5 to n=2. The color green was the only accurate one but yellow should have transitioned from n=3 to n=2, and would

For CaCl2, the color observed was a vivid orange with a spectroscope of 6.3. The color observed for NaCl2 was also a yellowish orange and had a high spectroscope reading of 6.67. The metal SrCl had a red color to it and had a reading of 6.87 for red. For BaCl2, the color was lightish blue and had a reading of 5.50 for blue on the spectroscope. Lastly, LiCl had deep red color to it and had a reading of 6.82 for red and 6.60 for orange; while, KCl had a lavender and violet color to it, with a reading of