Abstract
PREVIOUS work on series lines in spectra has dealt chiefly with lines produced in the electric arc, or in vacuum tubes with discharges of moderate intensity. The lines discussed in the present communication are some of those which are specially developed in the condensed spark, belonging to Lockyer's class of “enhanced lines.” The investigation was undertaken in connection with the new lines (λ 4686, etc.) produced in 1912 by passing strong condensed discharges through helium tubes, which always contained an impurity of hydrogen. These lines are of great interest in celestial spectroscopy, and, following Rydberg, they were assigned to hydrogen, to the lines of which they seemed to have a simple relation, while having no apparent connection with those of helium. The evidence for assigning the lines to hydrogen, however, was still numerical rather than experimental, and further inquiry was called for, especially in view of the presence of an intermediate set of lines associated with the Rydberg series. A search for other series of this character was therefore instituted in the hope that some generalisation with regard to them might be reached. The well-known spark line of magnesium, λ 4481, was subsequently found to be the leader of a series of this kind, but no relation to other magnesium series was then traced.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Series Lines in Spark Spectra 1 . Nature 93, 145–146 (1914). https://doi.org/10.1038/093145a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/093145a0