type. The value calculated for this energy was equal to the expression (5) if
. In the calculation the repulsion from the other electrons in the ring was neglected. This must result in making the value a little too large, but on account of the complexity of the problem no attempt at that time was made to obtain a more exact determination of the energy.
These considerations have obtained strong support through Moseley’s important researches on the high frequency spectra of the elements[29]. Moseley found that the frequency of the strongest lines in these spectra varied in a remarkably simple way with the atomic number of the corresponding element. For the strongest line in the
radiation he found that the frequency for a great number of elements was represented with considerable accuracy by the empirical formula
where
is the Rydberg constant in the hydrogen spectrum. It will be seen that this result is in approximate agreement with the calculation mentioned above if we assume that the radiation is emitted as a quantum