How can Hydrogen produce a line spectrum with only one electron?

Question

So... how can it produce a spectrum with NUMEROUS LINES with only one electron??

Also... how do I CALCULATE the wavelength of the green line H(beta) .. i tried using the rydberg equation and keep getting 656nm (which is the wavelenght for H (alpha) the first emission line.

THANKS IN ADVANCE! :D

Answer 1

You need to understand the basic process that produces light from a hydrogen atom.  The electron "jumps" from one state to a lower energy state.  The H-beta line is produced by the jump from n=4 to n=2.

1/ lamda = RH (1/4 - 1/16) = RH (3/16) = 486 nm

Answer 2

A hydrogen atom contains only one electron. A hydrogen gas contains zillions of them.

Answer 3

each line corresponds to an energy level, not an electron. the electron can raise from the 1st to the 2nd energy level, and so on.