If you treat a conjugated linear pi system as a particle-in-a-box, this quantity equals: “a dimensionless pre-factor, times the length of the pi system squared, divided by the electron Compton wavelength.” For 10 points each:
[10h] Name this molecular property that, empirically, starts at 214 or 253 of its standard units, and then increases by 30 with each additional double bond.
ANSWER: lambda-max [or wavelength of maximum absorption; or wavelength of maximum absorbance; accept any descriptive answers that include the words wavelength AND maximum AND absorbance or absorption; prompt on any descriptive answers that include 1–2 of the words wavelength, maximum, absorbance, absorption; prompt on color by asking “what specific quantity?”] (215 and 260 are the starting values when applying the Woodward-Fieser rules.)
[10m] For large pi systems, the pre-factor is this integer divided by the number of pi electrons. This number appears in the denominator of a particle-in-a-box’s energy levels when they are written in terms of h.
ANSWER: 8 [or eight]
[10e] For an isolated hydrogen-like atom, lambda-max can instead be calculated using this formula derived from the Bohr atomic model. It predicts the Balmer and Lyman series.
ANSWER: Rydberg formula [or Rydberg equation]
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