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Chapter 3: Problem 20

Explain what is required to move an electron from the ground state to an excited state.

Short Answer

Expert verified
To move an electron from the ground state to an excited state in an atom, the electron must absorb exactly the right amount of energy, which is provided by entities like photons. This absorbed energy corresponds exactly to the difference in energy levels between the ground state and the excited state. If the energy provided is not enough or is excess, the electron will remain in its ground state.

Step by step solution

01

Understanding Electron Transitions

First, it's important to understand what is meant by an electron transitioning from the ground state to an excited state. In the simplest model of the atom, electrons orbit the nucleus in clearly defined levels. The ground state refers to the lowest potential energy state of an atom, where all of its electrons are in the lowest possible energy levels. An excited state refers to a state where one or more of the atom's electrons has moved to an energy level that is higher than the ground state.
02

Energy Requirement for Transition

For an electron to transition, or move, from the ground state to an excited state, it must absorb exactly the right amount of energy to make the jump. This can occur through processes such as absorption of a photon, which carries a specific amount of energy defined by its frequency (E=\(h \nu\)), where E is energy, \(h\) is Planck's constant (approximately 6.626 x 10^{-34} Joules per second), and \(\nu\) is the frequency of the photon. The specific energy required for an electron to make a transition is determined by the difference in energy levels between the ground state and the excited state.
03

Conservation of Energy

It is important to remember that energy is always conserved. This means that the energy the electron absorbs from the photon (or any other source) will exactly match the difference in energy between the ground state and the excited state. Therefore, if a photon has more or less energy than is required for the transition, it will not be absorbed and the electron will stay in its ground state.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Explain why that if \(n=2, l\) cannot be 2

Calculate Numbers of Protons, Electrons, and Neutrons. A graphing calculator can run a program that calculates the numbers of protons, electrons, and neutrons given the atomic mass and numbers for an atom. For example,given a calcium-40 atom, you will calculate the numbers of protons, electrons, and neutrons in the atom. Go to Appendix C. If you are using a TI-83 Plus, you can download the program NUMBER and data and can run the applica- tion as directed. If you are using another calculator, your teacher will provide you with keystrokes and data sets to use. After you have run the program, answer the questions below. \begin{equation} \begin{array}{l}{\text { a. Which element has the most protons? }} \\ {\text { b. How many neutrons does mercury-zol }} \\ {\text { have? }} \\ {\text { c. Carbon-12 and carbon-14 have the same }} \\ {\text { atomic number. Do they have the same }} \\ {\text { number of neutrons? Why or why not? }}\end{array} \end{equation}

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