Question

4. Given the equation: E = -21.79 X 10" (#26) What energy does it solve for? What does it mean when n=1? What does it mean when n = 7?

Answer 1

4. The given equation solves for the energy of an electron in a particular orbit n, where n is the principal quantum number.

n=1 gives the energy of an electron in the first orbit of sn atom

n=2 gives the energy of an electron in the seventh orbit of an electron

5. When energy is absorbed by an electron, it jumps from lower energy level to a higher energy level and when this electron jumps from a higher energy level to a lower energy level, energy is emitted in the form of light. In these cases, ∆E = n_{​​​​​​2}​​​​​ - n_{​​​​​​1} is calculated which gives the difference between the energy of the electrons in the two energy levels.

(a)The lowest energy state possible for an electron in an atom has the ground state electronic configuration. When an electron in an atom has absorbed energy it is said to be in an excited state, and the atom's configuration is said to be an excited electronic configuration.

(b) When the electron jumps to a larger orbit, it must absorb a quantum of light equal in energy to the difference in orbits, i.e., ∆E. An excited atom is unstable and tends to rearrange itself to return to its lowest energy state. When this happens, the electrons lose energy by emitting light of a specific color.