page_title: Balmer series
hierarchical_section_title: Balmer series
caption_attribution_description: English: Visible Spectrum of Hydrogen Deutsch: Sichtbares Wasserstoff-Spektrum
context_page_description: The Balmer series, or Balmer lines in atomic physics, is one of a set of six named series describing the spectral line emissions of the hydrogen atom. The Balmer series is calculated using the Balmer formula, an empirical equation discovered by Johann Balmer in 1885.
  The visible spectrum of light from hydrogen displays four wavelengths, 410 nm, 434 nm, 486 nm, and 656 nm, that correspond to emissions of photons by electrons in excited states transitioning to the quantum level described by the principal quantum number n equals 2. There are several prominent ultraviolet Balmer lines with wavelengths shorter than 400 nm. The number of these lines is an infinite continuum as it approaches a limit of 364.6 nm in the ultraviolet.
  After Balmer's discovery, five other hydrogen spectral series were discovered, corresponding to electrons transitioning to values of n other than two.
context_section_description: The Balmer series, or Balmer lines in atomic physics, is one of a set of six named series describing the spectral line emissions of the hydrogen atom. The Balmer series is calculated using the Balmer formula, an empirical equation discovered by Johann Balmer in 1885.
  The visible spectrum of light from hydrogen displays four wavelengths, 410 nm, 434 nm, 486 nm, and 656 nm, that correspond to emissions of photons by electrons in excited states transitioning to the quantum level described by the principal quantum number n equals 2. There are several prominent ultraviolet Balmer lines with wavelengths shorter than 400 nm. The number of these lines is an infinite continuum as it approaches a limit of 364.6 nm in the ultraviolet.
  After Balmer's discovery, five other hydrogen spectral series were discovered, corresponding to electrons transitioning to values of n other than two .
caption: The "visible" hydrogen emission spectrum lines in the Balmer series. H-alpha is the red line at the right. Four lines (counting from the right) are formally in the visible range. Lines five and six can be seen with the naked eye, but are considered to be ultraviolet as they have wavelengths less than 400 nm.
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