why does the line spectrum of hydrogen include light of different wavelenghts?

Question

This is a chemistry question, i am failing the class please help! a hydrogen atom only has one electron so why would the above happen? Thanks for your input

Answer 1

One H atom has one electron, to be sure, but when you use a normal sample of the gas, there are countless billions of the atoms, so all transitions can happen at once. The different wavelengths occur when an electron falls from a higher level to a lower level and gives out a photon of a particular wavelength. Spread out between all the countless billions of atoms, you will see all the transitions happening at the same time.

Answer 2

nicely, i think of it could have something to do with the isotopes of hydrogen. possibly you are able to type "isotopes" on your seek engine, and that would help extra in answering your question. sturdy success!