Question

An electron in a hydrogen atom could undergo any of the transitions listed below, by emitting light. Which transition would give light of the shortest wavelength? Hint: Think Planck, remember Bohr. You may also want to think about the Rydberg equation, but it is not necessary to do the calculations.

Answer 1

Answer: option 4. Transition of n=4 to n= 1

Explanation:

An electron in an atom could undergoing any transitions the greater the n value, the higher the energy of the electron.

Therefore, the difference between the initial n values and

the final n values is equal to energy of the emitted photon. That is;

n(1)- n(2)= photons' energy --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(1).

Worthy of note is the fact that the energy of the photon is inversely proportional to the wavelength of

the emitted radiation.

Therefore, the farthest electron will have the shortest wavelength. That is n=4 to n=1