Rydberg Atoms There is no limit to the size a hydrogen

Chapter 31, Problem 84

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Rydberg Atoms There is no limit to the size a hydrogen atom can attain, provided it is free from disruptive outside inuences. In fact, radio astronomers have detected radiation from large, so-called Rydberg atoms in the diffuse hydrogen gas of interstellar space. (a) Find the smallest value of n such that the Bohr radius of a single hydrogen atom is greater than 8.0 microns, the size of a typical single-celled organism. (b) Find the wavelength of radiation this atom emits when its electron drops from level n to level . (c) If the electron drops one more level, from to , is the emitted wavelength greater than or less than the value found in part (b)? Explain.