Solution to 1996 Problem 9


The Rydberg equation is

\begin{align*}\frac{1}{\lambda} = R \left(\frac{1}{n_f^2} - \frac{1}{n_i^2} \right)\end{align*}
The longest wavelength in the Lyman series will have n_i = 2 and the longest wavelength in theBalmer series will have n_f = 3. The ratio of these wavelengths is
\begin{align*}\frac{\lambda_L}{\lambda_B} = \frac{\displaystyle \left(\frac{1}{2^2} - \frac{1}{3^2} \right)}{\displaystyle \l...
Therefore, answer (A) is the correct one.


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