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The Rydberg formula is used in atomic physics for determining the full spectrum of light emission from hydrogen, later extended to be useful with any element.

A piece of the original document detailing the Rydberg formula in 1888.

The spectrum are the wavelengths of photons emitted when electrons jump between discrete energy levels, "shells" around the atom of a certain chemical element.

The fomula was invented by the Swedish physicist Janne Rydberg and presented on November 5, 18881888 is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). In Germany, 1888 is known as the 1888 Year of Three Emperors. Events January 3 91cm telescope first used at Lick Observatory January 12 ? Blizzards in Dakota and Montana, Minnesota, Nebr.

1 Rydberg formula for hydrogen

Where

is the wavelength of the light emitted in vacuumThe article on the vacuum cleaner is located elsewhere. In physics, a vacuum is the absence of matter in a volume of space. A partial vacuum is expressed in units of pressure. The SI unit of pressure is the pascal (abbreviated to Pa in usage). It can also.
is the Rydberg constantThe rydberg constant is named after physicist Janne Rydberg, and is a physical constant discovered when measuring the spectrum of hydrogen, and building upon results from Anders Jonas Angstrom and Johann Balmer. Each chemical element has its own Rydberg c for hydrogen.
and are integers such that .

By setting to 1 and letting run from 2 to infinity, the spectral lines known as the Lyman seriesThe Lyman series is the series of transitions and resulting emission lines of the hydrogen atom as an electron goes from n ≥ 2 to n 1 (where n is the principal quantum number referring to the energy level of the electron). The transitions are named seq converging to 91nm are obtained, in the same manner:

	Name	Converge toward
1	Lyman seriesThe Lyman series is the series of transitions and resulting emission lines of the hydrogen atom as an electron goes from n ≥ 2 to n 1 (where n is the principal quantum number referring to the energy level of the electron). The transitions are named seq	91nm
2	Balmer seriesThe Balmer series is the series of transitions and resulting emission lines of the Hydrogen atom as an electron goes from n ≥ 3 to n 2 (where n refers to the energy level of the electron). The transitions are named sequentially by Greek letter: n 3 to	365nm
3	Paschen seriesThe Paschen series is the series of transitions and resulting emission lines of the hydrogen atom as an electron goes from n ≥ 4 to n 3 (where n refers to the energy level of the electron). The transitions are named sequentially by Greek letter: n 4 to	821nm

2 Rydberg formula for any hydrogen-like element

The formula above can be extended for use with any hydrogen-like chemical elements.

where

is the wavelength of the light emitted in vacuum;
is the Rydberg constant for this element;
is the atomic number, i.e. the number of protons in the atomic nucleus of this element;
and are integers such that .

It's important to notice that this formula can be applied only to hydrogen-like chemical elements, i.e. elements with only one electron on external system of orbitals. Actually, it can only be applied to such elements as lithium, sodium, etc.; even so it can't describe all the spectrum lines of these elements.

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Rydberg constantThe rydberg constant is named after physicist Janne Rydberg, and is a physical constant discovered when measuring the spectrum of hydrogen, and building upon results from Anders Jonas Angstrom and Johann Balmer. Each chemical element has its own Rydberg c

Rydberg formulaThe Rydberg formula is used in atomic physics for determining the full spectrum of light emission from hydrogen, later extended to be useful with any element. A piece of the original document detailing the Rydberg formula in 1888. The spectrum are the wav

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