Rydberg constant

The 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 Ångström and Johann Balmer[?]. Each chemical element has it's own Rydberg constant, but most commonly referred to is the "infinity" constant.

The "infinity" Rydberg constant is:

<math>R_\infty = 1,097373153 \cdot 10^7 \mathrm{m}^{-1}</math>

The "infinity" constant appears in the formula:

<math>R_M = \frac{R_\infty}{1+\frac{m}{M}}</math>

Which gives the Rydberg constant for a certain atom with one electron with the rest mass <math>m</math> and the atomic nucleus mass <math>M</math>. And can be derived from the formula:

<math>R_\infty = \frac{e^4 m}{8 \epsilon_0^2 h^3 c}</math>

As the formula for the Rydberg constant contains no less than five other physical constants, namely the elementary charge <math>e</math>, the electron rest mass <math>m</math>, the permittivity of vacuum <math>\epsilon_0</math>, Planck's constant <math>h</math>, and the speed of light in vacuum <math>c</math>, it is one of the most well-determined physical constants. Measuring the Rydberg constant namely confirms the proportions of the values of the other five constants.

For more information about this formula, see the article on the Rydberg formula.

See Also