Lyman, Theodore

Eventually, this series of lines became known as the Balmer series. Balmer wondered whether his little formula might be extended to study the spectra of other elements. He knew similar patterns exist in the line spectra of many elements. He also wondered about spectral lines that the human eye can t see. A few years later, in 1906, additional series of lines were in fact discovered for hydrogen in the ultraviolet region of the spectrum. These were called the Lyman series after their discoverer, Theodore Lyman. Other famous series are the Paschen series, named after German scientist Friedrich Paschen, the Brackett series, named after U.S. scientist F. S. Brackett, and the wonderful Pfund series, named after U.S. scientist August Herman Pfund. The Paschen, Brackett, and Pfund series lie in the infrared region. ... 

As a result of his work, the lines in the visible spectrum are known as the Balmer series. The other series of lines in the atomic emission spectrum of hydrogen were discovered later (the next wasn t discovered until 1908). These series are named after the scientists who discovered them for example, the series in the ultraviolet region is known as the Lyman series after Theodore Lyman. 

The first of these series to be discovered was the BALMER SERIES in which = 2, 2 = 3,4,5,... This series is in the visible region and was discovered by the Swiss mathematician and physicist Johann Jakob Balmer (1825-1898) in 1885. The series in which i = 1 is the LYMAN series which lies in the ultraviolet region. This series was discovered by the American physicist Theodore Lyman (1874-1954). The Lyman series is a conspicuous feature of the spectrum of the Sun. 

Lyman series /ly-man/ See hydrogen atom spectrum. It is named for the American physicist Theodore Lyman (1874-1954). 

For the Balmer series, nf is simply 2 and n, takes the values 3, 4, 5, or 6. In 1908 the German physicist Friedrich Paschen (1865-1947) discovered new spectral lines fitting the above equation if nf = 3 and n = 4 and n, = 5. In 1906, Harvard physicist Theodore Lyman (1874-1954) discovered an ultraviolet series of spectral lines from hydrogen corresponding to nf = 1 and some 16 years later infrared spectral lines were discovered corresponding to nf = 4 and nf = 5. 

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