habitxo asked:


I’m extremely rusty in chemistry seeing as how I took Chem111 during my freshman year and am now a junior taking Chem112 and am having problems with this problem.

Calculate the energy released for an electron in the hydrogen atom that undergoes a transition from n = 2 to n = 4.

Multiple Choice Answers:
a. 4.09 X 10-19 J
b. 8.39 X 10-20 J
c. 7.46 X 10-32 J
d. 3.29 X 10-18 J
e. 5.39 X 10-21 J

Now, am I doing this right and using the correct formula?

I’m using the formula Ephoton = hv = hRH (1/n^2(low) – 1/n^2(high)) where hRH is 3.290×10^15 s^-1

so I get:
hv=3.290×10^15 s^-1 (1/4 – 1/16)
hv=3.290/0.1875
hv=17.54667
conversion to Joules:
17.54667 x 6.2415×10^18 = 1.095 x 10^20???

It’s all wrong so I threw it up there for someone to pick it apart and show me where I was wrong and if you could kindly show me the correct way, thanks!

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