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We say that visible light has wavelength from 400nm to roughly 800nm. What is the biggest "energy-jump" (excited) for an atom if the photon which was sent out was visible? What's the biggest "energy-jump"?

(Give the answer in joules)

thanks !! ;-)

1 Answer

7 votes

Answer:


4.98\cdot 10^(-19) J

Step-by-step explanation:

The energy of the emitted photon is inversely proportional to its wavelength, according to the equation:


E=(hc)/(\lambda)

where


h=6.63\cdot 10^(-34) Js is the Planck's constant


c=3.0\cdot 10^8 m/s is the speed of light


\lambda is the wavelength

This means that the biggest energy is released when the wavelength is the shortest. For a photon of visible light, the shortest wavelength is


\lambda=400 nm = 400\cdot 10^(-9) m

So, substituting into the equation, we find the corresponding energy:


E=((6.63\cdot 10^(-34))(3\cdot 10^8))/(400\cdot 10^(-9))=4.98\cdot 10^(-19) J

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