When an atom emits a photon, how does the photon's energy depend on the energy of the electron orbits?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Consider the question about photon emission from an atomic electron transitioning between energy levels. 
Option 1: 'Equals the energy of the lower orbit' is incorrect because the energy of the emitted photon corresponds to the difference between the initial and final energy levels, not the absolute energy of the final state. The lower orbit's energy alone does not account for the initial higher energy state.
Option 2: 'Equals the energy of the higher orbit' is also incorrect for similar reasons; using just the energy of the higher level would ignore how far the electron dropped, and thus the energy released.
Option 3: 'Is more than the energy difference between orbits' is not consistent with energy conservation in a simple atomic transition; the photon cannot carry away more energy than the energy released by the electron drop, which is exactly the difference between the two levels.
Option 4: 'Is less than the energy difference between orbits' is incorrect because the photon's energy is not a random fraction; it precisely equals the energy released in the transition, i.e., the exact difference between the initial and final level energies.
Option 5: 'Equals the energy difference between orbits.' is correct because photon energy during emission is hν = E_initial − E_final, which is the energy gap between the two levels involved in the transition. This follows from energy conservation and the quantized nature of atomic energy levels.

When an atom emits a photon, how does the photon's energy depend on the energy of the electron orbits?单项选择题

类似问题

To excite an atom, an incoming photon must have energy

The figure shows the energy levels of a mercury atom. The atom is initially in the 2nd excited state. Which one of the following photon energies cannot be emitted by a mercury atom which is initially in its 2nd excited state?

The hydrogen emission spectrum only shows a few discrete emission lines. This is because:

Which one of the following is the energy of an electron in the n = 5 level of a hydrogen atom?

The lowest energy of an electron in atom is called?

The arrows in the figure depict the transition of an electron in the H atom. A photon is absorbed when the transition occurs. Which transition requires the absorption of the highest energy photon?

The arrows in the figure depict the transition of an electron in the H atom. Which transition requires the absorption of the highest energy photon?

更多留学生实用工具

智能学习助手

风格化写作助手

论文查重助手

文献引用助手

课堂转译助手

课堂笔记助手

Quiz搜索助手

学校历年真题

智能刷题助手

智能匹配练习

希望你的学习变得更简单