Home
Class 11
CHEMISTRY
What does the negative electronic energy...

What does the negative electronic energy for hydrogen atom mean?

Text Solution

Verified by Experts

The energy of the electron in a hydrogen atom has a negative sign for all possible orbits. What does this negative sign for all posible orbits. What does this negative sign convey? This negative sign means that the energy of the electron in the atom is lower than the energy of a free electron at rest. `A` free electron at rest is an electron that is infinitely far away from the nucleus and is assigned the energy value of zero.
As the electron gets closer to the nucleus (as `n` decreases), energy becomes larger in absolute value and more and more negative. The most negative energy value is given by `n=1` which corresponds to the most stable orbit. We call this as the ground state.
Promotional Banner

Similar Questions

Explore conceptually related problems

(i) What is the energy of electron for hydrogen in J // atom and 1// mole ? (ii) Calculate the energy of this electron per mole for first transition.

What is the ground state of an atom ? And what is the ionization energy and excitation energy of a hydrogen atom ?

For which quantum number of the binding of electron is zero in hydrogen atom ?

The ionization energy of the electron in the hydrogen atom in its ground state is 13.6 eV. The atoms are excited to higher energy levels to emit radiation of 6 wavelengths. During which of the following transitions will the maximum wavelength radiation be emitted ?