(i) Explain why the energy of an electron in a stationary orbit of the hydrogen atom…
PHYSICS · Subjective · A Level · Physics · Particles and radiation · Particles and radiation
Problem
(i) Explain why the energy of an electron in a stationary orbit of the hydrogen atom is taken to be negative and why it approaches zero as the orbit number increases.
(ii) Using the sign convention for energy, distinguish between the physical situations represented by ΔE>0 and ΔE<0 when an electron moves between two stationary orbits.
(iii) Without performing any numerical calculation, state whether a photon will be emitted or absorbed when an electron in hydrogen moves from n=2 to n=5, giving a brief reason for your answer.