Kinecti energy of the electron

  • Thread starter Thread starter Xamfy19
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Electron Energy
Click For Summary

Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a problem involving the interaction of a 15-eV photon with a hydrogen atom in its ground state. Participants are exploring the energy of the ejected electron and its de Broglie wavelength, considering the energy transfer from the photon to the electron.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Conceptual clarification

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the conversion of photon energy to kinetic energy and question whether all the energy is available for kinetic energy after accounting for the energy required to free the electron from the atom.

Discussion Status

Some participants have provided guidance regarding the energy required to free the electron from the hydrogen atom, noting that only the excess energy contributes to the kinetic energy of the ejected electron. Multiple interpretations of the energy distribution are being explored.

Contextual Notes

There is a mention of the ground state energy of the hydrogen atom being approximately -13.6 eV, which is relevant to the energy calculations for the problem. The discussion includes uncertainty about the total energy conversion and the calculations involved.

Xamfy19
Messages
60
Reaction score
0
Hello, please help with the following question:

the hydrogen atom is in ground state when a 15-eV photon interact with it and all the photon's energy is transferred to the electron,, freeing it from the atom.
a) what is the energy of the ejected electron
b) the de Brogle wavelength of the electron.

I thought the energy is 15ev x 1.6 E-19 = 2.4 E-18 J, however, I am not sure the total energy is turned into kinetic energy

I guess if the total energy is kinetic energy, then I can use 1/2 * mv^2 to get v, then
wavelength = h/mv (where h is Planck's constant)
Am I right?

Thanks.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Yep, sounds ok to me!
 
Xamfy19 said:
Hello, please help with the following question:

the hydrogen atom is in ground state when a 15-eV photon interact with it and all the photon's energy is transferred to the electron,, freeing it from the atom.
a) what is the energy of the ejected electron
b) the de Brogle wavelength of the electron.

I thought the energy is 15ev x 1.6 E-19 = 2.4 E-18 J, however, I am not sure the total energy is turned into kinetic energy

I guess if the total energy is kinetic energy, then I can use 1/2 * mv^2 to get v, then
wavelength = h/mv (where h is Planck's constant)
Am I right?

Thanks.

The total energy of the photon is not converted into kinetic energy. If the electron is in the ground state of hydrogen (something like -13.6 ev as I recall, but check on that) that much energy is needed to free it from the nucleus. Only the excess energy is going to result in kinetic energy.
 
The amount of energy required to free electron is -13.6 ev, as you mentioned. This left 1.4 eV for kinetic energy. A total of 2.24 x E-19 J (1.4 x 1.6 E-19) is kinetic energy.

v = 7.02 E5 m/v, That's what I got.
Thanks a lot
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
1K
  • · Replies 35 ·
2
Replies
35
Views
4K
Replies
8
Views
2K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
Replies
3
Views
2K
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
2K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K