, and
is the frequency of the light absorbed or given out.
The atom absorbs from its environment the quanta relevant to the particular electron transfers of which it is capable at the time. These transfers are, of course, governed by the number and arrangement of the spectroscopic valency electrons, or in other words, by the state of ionization or excitation of the atom.
The unionized (or neutral) atom in the unexcited state absorbs the ultimate lines by the removal of one electron from its normal stationary state to some other which can be reached from that state, and re-emits them by the return of the electron to that state. The electron may, of course, leave the state to which it was carried by the ultimate absorption and pass to some state other than the normal one. If this final state is a state of higher energy than the previous state, the line produced by the process will be an absorption line; if it is of lower energy the result will be the production of an emission line. In either case the line produced by the transfer of an electron from a stationary state other than the normal state is known as a subordinate line. The distinction between series of ultimate and subordinate lines is of great importance in the astrophysical applications of the theory of ionization.
Figure 2
The hydrogen atom. The ten innermost orbits possible for the single electron of the atom of hydrogen are diagrammatically represented. All possible quantum transitions between the orbits are indicated as follows:—short dashes, Lyman series, terminating at a 1-quantum orbit; full lines, Balmer series, terminating at a 2-quantum orbit; long dashes, Paschen series, terminating at a 3-quantum orbit. Transfers are only possible between orbits with azimuthal quantum numbers differing by ±1.
When the energy supply from the environment is great enough, the “outermost” (or most easily detachable) valency electron is entirely removed by the energy absorbed. In consequence the atom is superficially transformed, giving rise to a totally new spectrum, which strongly resembles the spectrum of the atom next preceding in the periodic system. Bohr’s table embodies the interpretation of this resemblance—the so-called Displacement Rule of Kossell and Sommerfeld[7]—which has recently been strikingly confirmed by a very complete investigation of the arc and spark (neutral and ionized) spectra of the atoms in the first long period.[8] It may be seen at once, for instance, that the removal of the outermost (or