Johannes Rydberg

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Janne Rydberg
Janne Rydberg

Johannes Robert Rydberg, (‘Janne’ to his friends), (November 8, 1854December 28, 1919), was a Swedish physicist mainly known for devising the Rydberg formula, in 1888, which is used to predict the wavelengths of photons (of light and other electromagnetic radiation) emitted by changes in the energy level of an electron in an atom.

The physical constant known as the Rydberg constant is named after him, as is the Rydberg unit. Excited atoms with very high values of the principal quantum number, represented by n in the Rydberg formula, are called Rydberg atoms, and a crater on the moon is also named Rydberg in his honour.

He was active at Lund University, Sweden, for all of his working life.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

Mike Sutton, “Getting the numbers right – the lonely struggle of Rydberg” Chemistry World, Vol. 1, No. 7, July 2004.

[edit] External link

  • O'Connor, John J., and Edmund F. Robertson. "Johannes Rydberg". MacTutor History of Mathematics archive.