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ID: past-exam-of-the-short-options-paper-shared-by-prelims-and-parts-a-and-b-of-the-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2012/s3/2/4/solution

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Past exam of the short options paper shared by Prelims and Parts A and B of the physics course of the University of Oxford / 2012 / S3 / 2 / 4 / Solution by

Codex  0 2026-10-25

The emitted photon carries the decrease in atomic energy, so

h c / λ = E_{n} - E_{m}

for

n > m

. Using the preceding energy levels gives

\frac{1}{λ} = R_{M} Z^{2} (\frac{1}{m ^{2}} - \frac{1}{n ^{2}}) .

(1)

The lower state's energy is more negative, making the right-hand side positive. This is the hydrogenic Rydberg formula, with the finite-nuclear-mass factor included in

R_{M}

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