how do we Use the Rydberg equation to calculate the wavelength (in Å)?

Question

I just do not get it, will someone help me please?

Use the Rydberg equation to calculate the wavelength (in Å) of the photon absorbed when a hydrogen atom undergoes a transition from n = 1 to n = 2.

Answer 1

All you do is plug in the right numbers into the Rydberg equation. (I can't type it, but its here---> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rydberg_formula#Rydberg_formula_for_hydrogen) The Rydberg constant for hydrogen is 13.6 eV. Z is the atomic number, in this case 1. N(1) is the initial energy state (in this case 1) and N(2) is the final energy state (in this case 2). So all you need to do is put in those numbers and solve for Lamba.

Answer 2

This is definetly not my area of expertise, but this is what came up in Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rydberg_formula

Read carefully, the formula has different constants for different elements.