The 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 sequentially by Greek letters: from n = 2 to n = 1 is called Lyman-alpha, 3 to 1 is Lyman-beta, 4 to 1 is Lyman-gamma, etc. A spectral line is a dark or bright line in an otherwise uniform and continuous spectrum, resulting from an excess or deficiency of photons in a narrow frequency range, compared with the nearby frequencies. ... Jump to: navigation, search General Name, Symbol, Number hydrogen, H, 1 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 1, 1, s Appearance colorless Atomic mass 1. ... Jump to: navigation, search Properties For alternative meanings see atom (disambiguation). ... Jump to: navigation, search Properties The electron is a fundamental subatomic particle which carries a negative electric charge. ... A quantum number is any one of a set of numbers used to specify the full quantum state of any system in quantum mechanics. ...

The spectrum of radiation emitted by hydrogen is non-continuous. Here is an illustration of the first series of hydrogen emission lines:

Historically, explaining the nature of this spectrum was a considerable problem in physics. Nobody could predict the wavelengths of the hydrogen lines until Janne Rydberg came up with an empirical formula that solved the problem in 1888. A schoolteacher at the time, he managed to find a formula to match the known emission lines and predict those which were not yet discovered. The Rydberg formula was: Jump to: navigation, search Image File history File links Lyman-Spectrum1. ... Since antiquity, people have tried to understand the behavior of matter: why unsupported objects drop to the ground, why different materials have different properties, and so forth. ... Jump to: navigation, search The wavelength is the distance between repeating units of a wave pattern. ... Johannes Rydberg, commonly known as Janne Rydberg, (November 8, 1854 - December 28, 1919), was a Swedish physicist mainly known for devising the Rydberg formula, 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... In chemistry, the empirical formula of a chemical is a simple expression of the relative number of each type of atom (called a chemical element) in it. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1888 is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search The Rydberg formula (Rydberg-Ritz formula) is used in atomic physics for determining the full spectrum of light emission from hydrogen, later extended to be useful with any element. ...

Where n is a natural number greater or equal than 2 (i.e. n = 2,3,4,...).

Therefore, the lines seen in the image are the wavelengths corresponding to n=2 on the left, to n= on the right (there are infinitely many spectral lines, but they become very dense as they approach to n=, so only some of the first lines and the last one appear).

Later, when Niels Bohr produced his Bohr atom theory, the reason why the spectral lines fit Rydberg's formula was explained. Bohr found that the electron bound to the hydrogen atom must have quantized energy levels described by the following formula: Jump to: navigation, search Niels Bohr Niels Henrik David Bohr (October 7, 1885 – November 18, 1962) was a Danish physicist who made essential contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics. ... The Bohr model of the atom The Bohr Model is a physical model that depicts the atom as a small positively charged nucleus with electrons in orbit at different levels, similar in structure to the solar system. ...

Accordind to Bohr's third assumption, whenever an electron falls from an initial energy level(E_i) to a final energy level(E_f), the atom must emit radiation with a wavelength of:

There is also a more comfortable notation when dealing with energy in units of electronvolts and wavelengths in units of angstroms: An electronvolt (symbol: eV) is the amount of energy gained by a single unbound electron when it falls through an electrostatic potential difference of one volt. ... An angstrom or ångström (Å) is a non-SI unit of length equal to 10−10 metres, 0. ...

Replacing the energy in the above formula with the expression for the energy in the hydrogen atom where the initial energy corresponds to energy level n and the final energy corresponds to energy level m:

where R is the same constant Rydberg found. It is easy then to see the connection between what Bohr found and what Rydberg found. Replacing m by 1 we get:

which is exactly Rydberg's formula. Therefore, each wavelength of the emission lines corresponds to an electron dropping from a certain energy level (greater than 1) to the first energy level.

The series is named after its discoverer, Theodore Lyman. Theodore Lyman (1874 - 1954) was a U.S. physicist and spectroscopist. ...

See also

• Hydrogen spectral series
• Bohr model
• Rydberg formula
• H-alpha
• Balmer series
• Paschen series