<p>In different temperature environments, the intensity of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balmer_series" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Balmer lines</a> is determined by the Saha equation and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boltzmann_equation" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Boltzmann equation</a>.</p>
<p>What I'm curious about is as follows. How can we measure the intensity of alpha and beta lines at the same temperature?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-24T01:36:44.147Z
I'm not sure exactly what "How can we...?" means. You have something at a given temperature, and you just measure the intensity of two lines. Where is the problem?
uhoh
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2021-10-24T08:19:35.117Z
Cross posted on Physics SE
Alchimista
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-24T11:38:18.220Z
@uhoh If the temperature is different, the strength of the alpha lines can be compared through the Boltzmann-Saha equation, and if the temperature is the same, how do we compare the strength of the alpha and beta lines? The intensity of the balmer line is necessarily proportional to the number of neutral hydrogen in the second excited state, and then at the same temperature, it means how to determine the intensity of the alpha and beta lines. Are their strengths the same?
빛나는밤
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-24T21:31:29.587Z
It sounds like you don't mean "measure" (which you would do with a spectrograph), but rather "how do we *compute* the intensity", yes?
Peter Erwin
<observational-astronomy><spectrometry>
balmer alpha , beta line intensity
빛나는밤
# balmer alpha , beta line intensity

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-10-24)

In different temperature environments, the intensity of the [Balmer lines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balmer_series) is determined by the Saha equation and the [Boltzmann equation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boltzmann_equation).

What I'm curious about is as follows. How can we measure the intensity of alpha and beta lines at the same temperature?

**Tags:** observational-astronomy, spectrometry

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I'm not sure exactly what "How can we...?" means. You have something at a given temperature, and you just measure the intensity of two lines. Where is the problem?  
> **username_2**: Cross posted on Physics SE  
> **username_0**: @username_1 If the temperature is different, the strength of the alpha lines can be compared through the Boltzmann-Saha equation, and if the temperature is the same, how do we compare the strength of the alpha and beta lines? The intensity of the balmer line is necessarily proportional to the number of neutral hydrogen in the second excited state, and then at the same temperature, it means how to determine the intensity of the alpha and beta lines. Are their strengths the same?  
> **username_3**: It sounds like you don't mean "measure" (which you would do with a spectrograph), but rather "how do we *compute* the intensity", yes?  

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## 0 answers

