Question

An atom in the ground state has a collision with an electron, then emits a photon with a wavelength of 1240 nm. What conclusion can you draw about the initial kinetic energy of the electron

Answer 1

When an atom in the ground state collides with an electron, it can absorb energy and transition to an excited state. The energy of the emitted photon is equal to the difference in energy between the excited state and the ground state. By calculating the energy of the emitted photon, we can determine the initial kinetic energy of the electron before the collision.

Step-by-step explanation:

When an atom in the ground state collides with an electron, it can absorb energy and transition to an excited state. If the electron then moves from the excited state back to the ground state, it emits a photon. The energy of the emitted photon is equal to the difference in energy between the excited state and the ground state.

In this scenario, the emitted photon has a wavelength of 1240 nm. We can use the equation E = hc/λ, where E is the energy, h is Planck's constant (6.63 x 10^-34 J s), c is the speed of light (3.00 x 10^8 m/s), and λ is the wavelength. Rearranging the equation, we get λ = hc/E. Plugging in the given values, we can calculate the energy of the emitted photon.

Since the photon emitted from the electron transition has a known wavelength, we can conclude that the initial kinetic energy of the electron before the collision can be determined from the energy of the emitted photon.