Question

The diagrams below show the same set of energy levels as in Parts A and B, but with a different set of electron transitions (notice that the arrows are now different). Assuming that these electron transitions were caused by the absorption of a photon, rank the atoms based on the energy of the absorbed photon, from highest to lowest.

Answer 1

Highest energy
-arrow pointing down to the right, from center to outside of circle
-arrow pointing up right, from center to second to outer circle
-arrow pointing straight down, from center to inner circle
-small arrow pointing up right, from inner circle (not center) to outer circle
Lowest energy

The atom in which the electron leaves (the atom is ionized) corresponds with the highest-energy photon, and the atom with the shortest arrow indicates the case where the absorbed photon had the lowest energy.