Question

The hydrogen atom, changing from its first excited state to its lowest energy state, emits light with a wavelength of 122 nm. That is in the far ultraviolet. The sodium atom, which like hydrogen has one electron that gets excited outside a core of 10 other electrons, emits light at 589 nm making a similar transition from its first excited state to its lowest state. Which of these statements would be true about the sodium and hydrogen atoms and their spectra? THERE IS MORE THAN ONE CORRECT ANSWER

a. There would be other series of spectral lines ending on the first excited states of both atoms.
b. There would be a series of spectral lines in sodium with the longest wavelength one at 589 nm.
c. There would be a series of spectral lines in hydrogen with the longest wavelength one at 122 nm.
d. The hydrogen atom binds its electron more tightly than the sodium atom does, and would require more energy to remove its electron completely.

Answer 1

c. There would be a series of spectral lines in hydrogen with the longest wavelength one at 122 nm.

d. The hydrogen atom binds its electron more tightly than the sodium atom does, and would require more energy to remove its electron completely.

Step-by-step explanation:

The hydrogen atom which changes from the excited state to the lower ground state, it emits light having a wavelength of 122 m. And the sodium atom also gets excited and emits light at 589 nm when it moves from the 1st excited state to the lowest excited state.

Therefore, when the electrons jumps from the 1st excited state to the ground state, only one wavelength is observed as there is only one transition.

The hydrogen atom will bind the electron tightly but the sodium atom does not and would require more energy to remove the electron the electron completely as the binding energy is higher when the electron is closer to the nucleus.