But hydrogen doesn't have a work function, because the photoelectric effect only works with metals. So I had it wrong from the beginning.
Maybe the question is asking about orbital levels? Because hydrogen only has one electron, so wouldn't it only have one level? And the energy it would take...
I would, but I don't even know if that's what it's asking. I think that's not it, because we finished work functions and now we're working on spectroscopy. But none of those concepts work as well for this question as work function does. I don't think it's asking anything about what frequencies...
1. The problem statement
A hydrogen atom has an electron in the fundamental state.
a. Show that a radiation with λ = 50 nm will ionize the atom.
b. What will be the excess kinetic energy of the electron in joules?
What is this question asking? Is it asking what wavelength will free...