Balmer Series

Here, we show the laboratory preparation for 10 students working in pairs, with some excess. Please adjust quantities as needed.

• To set up for this lab experiment, wear the appropriate personal protective equipment, including a lab coat, chemical splash goggles, and gloves.
• Place a power base for gas discharge lamps in a central area.
• Pick up the hydrogen lamp and clean it with a laboratory wipe before setting it in the designated slot of the power base. Then, plug in the lamp base.
• Wipe the helium and neon lamps and return them to their storage compartment so that you can exchange the lamps when needed during the lab.
• Assemble handheld UV-Vis spectrophotometers and distribute them to the lab stations to finish the setup.
• During the lab, you will call up each student group to acquire a spectrum while you operate the hydrogen lamp for up to 30 s. Once all students have recorded a spectrum, you will repeat the process with the helium and neon lamps.
• If a lamp is still hot when you are done with it, wait 5 min before removing it from the base.