Rydberg formula
E629517
The Rydberg formula is an equation in atomic physics that predicts the wavelengths of spectral lines of hydrogen and hydrogen-like atoms using the Rydberg constant.
All labels observed (2)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Rydberg formula canonical | 7 |
| Rydberg formula for spectral lines | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T6938844 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Rydberg formula Context triple: [Rydberg constant, usedIn, Rydberg formula]
-
A.
Rydberg constant
The Rydberg constant is a fundamental physical constant that characterizes the limiting value of the highest wavenumber (or lowest wavelength) of any photon that can be emitted from the hydrogen atom, playing a key role in atomic spectroscopy and quantum theory.
-
B.
Lyman series in hydrogen spectrum
The Lyman series in the hydrogen spectrum is a set of ultraviolet emission or absorption lines produced when electrons in hydrogen atoms transition from higher energy levels down to the ground state (n=1).
-
C.
Sommerfeld fine-structure formula
The Sommerfeld fine-structure formula is a relativistic extension of the Bohr model that accurately predicts the fine-structure energy levels of the hydrogen atom.
-
D.
Balmer series of hydrogen
The Balmer series of hydrogen is the set of spectral emission lines in the visible region produced when electrons in a hydrogen atom transition from higher energy levels down to the second principal energy level.
-
E.
Bohr radius
The Bohr radius is a fundamental physical constant that represents the most probable distance between the nucleus and the electron in a hydrogen atom in its ground state.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Rydberg formula Target entity description: The Rydberg formula is an equation in atomic physics that predicts the wavelengths of spectral lines of hydrogen and hydrogen-like atoms using the Rydberg constant.
-
A.
Rydberg constant
The Rydberg constant is a fundamental physical constant that characterizes the limiting value of the highest wavenumber (or lowest wavelength) of any photon that can be emitted from the hydrogen atom, playing a key role in atomic spectroscopy and quantum theory.
-
B.
Lyman series in hydrogen spectrum
The Lyman series in the hydrogen spectrum is a set of ultraviolet emission or absorption lines produced when electrons in hydrogen atoms transition from higher energy levels down to the ground state (n=1).
-
C.
Sommerfeld fine-structure formula
The Sommerfeld fine-structure formula is a relativistic extension of the Bohr model that accurately predicts the fine-structure energy levels of the hydrogen atom.
-
D.
Balmer series of hydrogen
The Balmer series of hydrogen is the set of spectral emission lines in the visible region produced when electrons in a hydrogen atom transition from higher energy levels down to the second principal energy level.
-
E.
Bohr radius
The Bohr radius is a fundamental physical constant that represents the most probable distance between the nucleus and the electron in a hydrogen atom in its ground state.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (50)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
empirical equation
ⓘ
physical law ⓘ spectroscopic formula ⓘ |
| appliesTo |
hydrogen atom
ⓘ
hydrogen-like ions ⓘ one-electron atoms ⓘ |
| assumes |
Coulomb potential between electron and nucleus
ⓘ
non-relativistic hydrogen-like atom ⓘ |
| condition | n2 > n1 ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin | Sweden ⓘ |
| dependsOn |
n1
ⓘ
n2 ⓘ principal quantum numbers ⓘ |
| derivedFrom |
Bohr model in quantum theory
ⓘ
linked to:
Bohr model of the atom
|
| describes |
wavelengths of spectral lines of hydrogen
ⓘ
wavelengths of spectral lines of hydrogen-like atoms ⓘ |
| era | late 19th century ⓘ |
| field |
atomic physics
ⓘ
quantum physics ⓘ spectroscopy ⓘ |
| generalizes |
Balmer series formula
ⓘ
linked to:
Balmer series of hydrogen
|
| hasGeneralForm | 1/λ = R (1/n1² − 1/n2²) ⓘ |
| hasLimitation |
does not include Lamb shift
ⓘ
does not include fine structure ⓘ does not include relativistic corrections ⓘ |
| hasVariable |
R (Rydberg constant)
ⓘ
n1 (lower energy level) ⓘ n2 (higher energy level) ⓘ λ (wavelength) ⓘ |
| historicallyPreceded |
Bohr atomic model
ⓘ
linked to:
Bohr model of the atom
|
| improvedUpon |
Balmer formula
ⓘ
linked to:
Balmer series of hydrogen
|
| namedAfter | Johannes Rydberg ⓘ |
| predicts |
spectral line positions
ⓘ
wavelengths of absorbed photons ⓘ wavelengths of emitted photons ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
Bohr model of the atom
ⓘ
energy levels of hydrogen ⓘ quantization of electron orbits ⓘ |
| unitOfInverseWavelength | reciprocal meter ⓘ |
| unitOfWavelength | meter ⓘ |
| usedFor |
Balmer series
ⓘ
linked to:
Balmer series of hydrogen
Brackett series ⓘ Humphreys series ⓘ
linked to:
Humphreys series of hydrogen
Lyman series ⓘ
linked to:
Lyman series in hydrogen spectrum
Paschen series ⓘ Pfund series ⓘ |
| usedIn |
determination of fundamental constants
ⓘ
plasma diagnostics ⓘ spectral analysis of stars ⓘ |
| usesConstant | Rydberg constant ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Rydberg formula Description of subject: The Rydberg formula is an equation in atomic physics that predicts the wavelengths of spectral lines of hydrogen and hydrogen-like atoms using the Rydberg constant.
Referenced by (8)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
linked to: Rydberg formula