Binding energy of an electron in an excited state?

  • #1

Homework Statement



How much energy is required to remove an electron from a hydrogen atom in a state with n = 8?

Homework Equations



E = - (1 / 4pi*epsilon_0)(me^4/2(h-bar)^2)(1/n^2)

Where E is the total energy of the electron.

The Attempt at a Solution



I know that if you solve the above equation for the ground state (n = 1), the binding energy of the electron is equal to E, but I'm not so sure about excited states. Do I merely solve the above equation for n = 8, or is there something I'm missing?
 
  • #2
as you have said , to remove an electron from a hydrogen atom which is in a ground state , the least amount of energy you have to give is 13.6ev (note that En= -13.6/n^2) and n=1 in the ground state ...

so when the atom is at n=8, what is the least amount of energy you have to give it in order to remove the electron (can you see some kind of symmetry here ) ... :)
 
  • #3
as you have said , to remove an electron from a hydrogen atom which is in a ground state , the least amount of energy you have to give is 13.6ev (note that En= -13.6/n^2) and n=1 in the ground state ...

so when the atom is at n=8, what is the least amount of energy you have to give it in order to remove the electron (can you see some kind of symmetry here ) ... :)

Well, the answer I got is 0.2124 eV...
 

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