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A hydrogen atom in an excited state can be ionized with less energy than when it is in its ground state. What is n for a hydrogen atom if 0.544 eV of energy can ionize it?

User Satomi
by
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1 Answer

4 votes

Step-by-step explanation:

It is known that formula for the ionization energy of hydrogen atom is as follows.

E =
(13.6 eV)/(n^(2))

or, n =
\sqrt{(13.6)/(E)}

The value of energy is given as 0.544 eV. Therefore, we will calculate the value of n as follows.

n =
\sqrt{(13.6)/(E)}

=
\sqrt{(13.6)/(0.544 eV)}

= 5

Thus, we can conclude that n equals to 5 for a hydrogen atom if 0.544 eV of energy can ionize it.

User Jmachnik
by
7.5k points
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