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Abstract Volume 10 Issue 4 (2005) pp 295-297

Hypothesis Testing Inclusion in the Atomic Emission Spectrum of Hydrogen Experiment

Frazier Nyasulu,* James A. van Zee, William Cusworth III, and John Macklin

Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Box 351700, Seattle, WA 98195, nyasulu@chem.washington.edu
Received March 9, 2005. April 27, 2005.

Published online: 23 June 2005

Abstract. The measurement of the visible emission spectrum of hydrogen, a common general chemistry laboratory experiment, can be presented in a manner that incorporates hypothesis testing. In the Rydberg equation (1/l = R(1/n_f² – 1/n_i²), the hypotheses tested are n_f = 1, 2, 3, …. Hypothesis testing involves calculating an n_f value from the emission wavelength data. The hypothesis that fits is one in which n_f (hypothesis) = n_f (calculated). From a linear regression of 1/l versus 1/n_i², n_f (calculated) = Ö(–m/b) where m is the slope and b is the y intercept. For the visible region emission data, n_f (calculated) values are 1.30, 2.00, and 2.72 for n_f (hypothesis) values of 1, 2, and 3, respectively, indicating that n_f = 2.

Key Words: Laboratories and Demonstrations; general chemistry; quantum mechanics; hypothesis testing

(*) Corresponding author. (E-mail: nyasulu@chem.washington.edu)

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9/26/2005 Revision posted. Correction to Table 1

Issue date: August 1, 2005

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