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153:, the son of a chief justice also named Johann Jakob Balmer. His mother was Elizabeth Rolle Balmer, and he was the oldest son. During his schooling he excelled in mathematics, and so decided to focus on that field when he attended university.
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The Balmer lines refer to the emission lines that occur within the visible region of the
Hydrogen emission spectrum at 410.29 nm, 434.17 nm, 486.27 nm, and 656.47 nm. These lines are caused by electrons in an
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625:{\displaystyle {\frac {1}{\lambda }}\ ={\frac {4}{h}}\left({\frac {1}{m^{2}}}-{\frac {1}{n^{2}}}\right)=R_{H}\left({\frac {1}{m^{2}}}-{\frac {1}{n^{2}}}\right)}
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Despite being a mathematician, Balmer is best remembered for his work on spectral series. His major contribution (made at the age of sixty, in 1885) was an
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A full explanation of why these formulas worked, however, had to wait until after Balmer's death with the presentation of the
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468:, were able to confirm the existence of other lines of the Balmer series in the spectrum of hydrogen in white stars.
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420:{\displaystyle \lambda \ =(364.56\,{\rm {nm}})\cdot \,{\frac {7^{2}}{\,7^{2}-2^{2}\,}}\simeq 397.0\,{\rm {nm}}}
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180:. Johann then spent his entire life in Basel, where he taught at a school for girls. He also lectured at the
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433:. This portion of the Hydrogen emission spectrum, from transitions in electron energy levels with
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184:. In 1868 he married Christine Pauline Rinck at the age of 43. The couple had six children.
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Hagenbach informed Balmer that Ångström had observed a line with wavelength 397
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emitting a photon and returning to the first excited state of the hydrogen atom (
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Balmer's formula was later found to be a special case of the
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276:{\displaystyle \lambda \ =h\,{\frac {n^{2}}{n^{2}-m^{2}}}}
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atom, the study of which he took up at the suggestion of
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207:'s measurements of the hydrogen lines, he arrived at a
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Balmer used his formula to predict the wavelength for
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Scientists whose names are used in physical constants
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List of scientists whose names are used as SI units
809:[Note on the spectral lines of hydrogen].
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684:
654:
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419:
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807:"Notiz ĂĽber die Spectrallinien des Wasserstoffs"
305:as the "fundamental number of hydrogen." Today,
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211:for computing the wavelength as follows:
880:MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
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732:Johann Balmer died in Basel, aged 72.
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741:Balmer formula and Balmer constant
301:In his 1885 notice, he referred to
118:(1 May 1825 – 12 March 1898) was a
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412:
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1142:19th-century Swiss mathematicians
944:Newtonian constant of gravitation
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745:are named after him, as well as
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828:Magie, William Francis (1969).
16:Swiss mathematician (1825–1898)
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352:
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1137:19th-century Swiss physicists
811:Annalen der Physik und Chemie
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664:Rydberg constant for hydrogen
298:= 3.6456 · 10 m = 364.56 nm.
1157:People from Basel-Landschaft
832:. Cambridge, Massachusetts:
460:Two of Balmer's colleagues,
294:= 3, 4, 5, 6, and so forth;
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1147:Scientists from Basel-Stadt
125:best known for his work in
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813:. 3rd series (in German).
692:for Balmer's formula, and
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1003:Stefan–Boltzmann constant
989:Stefan–Boltzmann constant
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441:= 2, became known as the
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885:University of St Andrews
834:Harvard University Press
830:A Source Book in Physics
191:formula for the visible
158:University of Karlsruhe
970:Johann Josef Loschmidt
805:Balmer, J. J. (1885).
766:stellar classification
723:Bohr model of the atom
712:
711:{\displaystyle n>m}
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1088:von Klitzing constant
875:"Johann Jakob Balmer"
713:
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655:{\displaystyle R_{H}}
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462:Hermann Wilhelm Vogel
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203:also of Basel. Using
164:, then completed his
871:Robertson, Edmund F.
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162:University of Berlin
980:Johann Jakob Balmer
869:O'Connor, John J.;
788:is named after him.
779:is named after him.
685:{\displaystyle m=2}
182:University of Basel
170:University of Basel
145:Balmer was born in
116:Johann Jakob Balmer
87:University of Basel
23:Johann Jakob Balmer
1084:Klaus von Klitzing
1078:Josephson constant
999:Boltzmann constant
974:Loschmidt constant
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156:He studied at the
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954:Avogadro constant
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94:Scientific career
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1013:Rydberg constant
1009:Johannes Rydberg
995:Ludwig Boltzmann
964:Faraday constant
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1074:Brian Josephson
1069:Douglas Hartree
1058:Hubble constant
1028:Planck constant
960:Michael Faraday
950:Amedeo Avogadro
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849:"12755 Balmer"
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59:12 March 1898
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1105:non SI units
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1064:Hugo Tetrode
1054:Edwin Hubble
1034:Wilhelm Wien
985:Josef Stefan
979:
940:Isaac Newton
878:
843:
829:
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786:12755 Balmer
783:Minor planet
747:Balmer lines
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174:dissertation
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61:(1898-03-12)
1132:1898 deaths
1127:1825 births
1048:Bohr radius
1039:Otto Sackur
771:The crater
758:Balmer jump
151:Switzerland
104:Mathematics
75:Nationality
49:Switzerland
1121:Categories
1044:Niels Bohr
1024:Max Planck
793:References
727:Niels Bohr
662:being the
41:1 May 1825
932:constants
930:Physical
762:Astronomy
729:in 1913.
598:−
538:−
495:λ
479:in 1888:
401:≃
384:−
356:⋅
327:λ
258:−
222:λ
189:empirical
168:from the
141:Biography
817:: 80–87.
290:= 2 and
205:Ångström
197:hydrogen
160:and the
135:hydrogen
775:on the
437:≥ 3 to
209:formula
195:of the
178:cycloid
176:on the
127:physics
838:p. 360
773:Balmer
736:Honors
500:
457:= 2).
339:364.56
330:
225:
147:Lausen
137:atom.
129:, the
100:Fields
45:Lausen
635:with
404:397.0
317:= 7:
120:Swiss
78:Swiss
67:Basel
1103:and
777:Moon
764:for
756:The
749:and
703:>
464:and
286:for
56:Died
38:Born
853:JPL
725:by
445:.
166:PhD
133:of
1123::
1001:,
883:,
877:,
873:,
851:.
815:25
718:.
666:,
431:nm
149:,
47:,
1090:)
1086:(
1080:)
1076:(
1060:)
1056:(
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952:(
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942:(
914:e
907:t
900:v
855:.
836:.
768:.
753:.
743:h
706:m
700:n
680:2
677:=
674:m
648:H
644:R
619:)
611:2
607:n
603:1
591:2
587:m
583:1
577:(
571:H
567:R
563:=
559:)
551:2
547:n
543:1
531:2
527:m
523:1
517:(
511:h
508:4
503:=
492:1
455:n
439:n
435:n
413:m
410:n
392:2
388:2
379:2
375:7
367:2
363:7
353:)
348:m
345:n
336:(
333:=
315:n
307:h
303:h
296:h
292:n
288:m
266:2
262:m
253:2
249:n
242:2
238:n
231:h
228:=
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