Definition:Rydberg Constant

Physical Constant

The Rydberg constant is used to express the limiting value of the highest wavenumber (inverse wavelength) of any photon that can be emitted from a hydrogen atom, or, alternatively, the wavenumber of the lowest-energy photon capable of ionizing a hydrogen atom from its ground state.

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$R_\infty = \dfrac {m_\E \E^4} {8 \varepsilon_0^2 h^3 c}$

where:

$m_\E$ denotes the electron rest mass

$\E$ denotes the elementary charge

$\varepsilon_0$ denotes the vacuum permittivity

$h$ denotes Planck's constant

$c$ denotes the speed of light.

Value

The value of the Rydberg constant is:

\(\ds R_\infty\)

\(\approx\)

\(\ds 1 \cdotp 09737 \, 31568 \, 160(21) \times 10^7\)

$\mathrm {m^{-1} }$

\(\ds \)

\(\approx\)

\(\ds 1 \cdotp 09737 \, 31568 \, 160(21) \times 10^5\)

$\mathrm {cm^{-1} }$

Symbol

$R_\infty$

The symbol for the Rydberg constant is $R_\infty$.

The $\LaTeX$ code for \(R_\infty\) is R_\infty .

Dimension

The Rydberg constant has the dimension $\mathsf {L^{-1} }$.

Also see

• Definition:Rydberg Energy

Source of Name

This entry was named for Johannes Robert Rydberg.

Sources

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