Can somebody help me with the AS level Physics- On Electron Energy-levels/ ionisation?
Early on in the days of the quantum theory, the only analytical solution to the Schrodinger wave equation that could be obtained for a real was that for the hydrogen atom. What it showed was that the electron orbitals could be described by four quantum numbers (principal n, magnetic m, angular l and spin s). The energy En of these levels depends mostly – to quite high accuracy, in fact – on the first of these, and can be written as En = – R/n^2 where R is a constant and n varies from 1 upwards. The first, n = 1, corresponds to the electron in its ground state, that is, in its normal orbital close to the hydrogen nucleus (a single proton). As it is excited into the higher levels it moves further and further from the nucleus, until eventually it can just float off on its own and we say that the hydrogen atom has been ionised. So you’re quite right – the energy required for this is the difference between the n = 1 and infinity levels or 22 x 10-19 J. And this energy corresponds to a frequ
