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If Planck's constant (h) were to be doubled while other fundamental quantities like charge and mass electron remain constant, the force acting on the electron in the nth orbit of a hydrogen atom will:

(a) Double
(b) Halve
(c) Remain the same
(d) Become four times

User Bertrandom
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Final answer:

Doubling Planck's constant while keeping the charge and mass of an electron constant would theoretically increase the force on the electron in a hydrogen atom's orbit by four times, due to the quantized nature of the electron's energy levels.

Step-by-step explanation:

If Planck's constant (h) were to be doubled, while other fundamental quantities like the charge and mass of the electron remain constant, the force acting on the electron in the nth orbit of a hydrogen atom would theoretically become four times greater. This is because the energy levels of the electron orbits in a hydrogen atom are quantized and are given by the formula En = -13.6 eV / n2, where En is the energy level and n is the principal quantum number. The energy of an electron in an orbit is also related to Planck's constant through the equation E = hν, where ν is the frequency of the electron's orbit.

Since the force is directly proportional to the energy (via Coulomb's law and assuming circular orbits), doubling h, while keeping other factors constant, would mean the energy associated with each orbit is doubled because frequency is inversely proportional to h. As a result, the force, which depends on the square of the energy in the orbit, would increase by a factor of four. However, it's important to note that this is a theoretical approximation, as Planck's constant is in reality a fundamental constant of nature and cannot be altered.

User Jocelyn LECOMTE
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