The ionization energy of the electron in the hydrogen atom in its ground state is $13.6 \mathrm{eV}$. The…

The ionization energy of the electron in the hydrogen atom in its ground state is $13.6 \mathrm{eV}$. The atoms are excited to higher energy levels to emit radiations of 6 wavelengths. Maximum wavelength of emitted radiation corresponds to the transition between
  1. $n=3$ to $n=2$ states
  2. $n=3$ to $n=1$ states
  3. $n=2$ to $n=1$ states
  4. $n=4$ to $n=3$ states

Solution

Key Idea Number of spectral lines abtained due to transition of electron from $\boldsymbol{n}^{\text {th }}$ orbit to lower orbit is $\mathrm{N}=\frac{\mathrm{n}(\mathrm{n}-1)}{2}$ and for maximum wavelength the difference between the orbits of the series should be minimum. Number of spectral lines $\mathrm{N}=\frac{\mathrm{n}(\mathrm{n}-1)}{2}$ $\begin{aligned} \Rightarrow & \frac{n(n-1)}{2} & =6 \\ \text { or } & n^2-n-12 & =0 \\ \text { or } & (n-4)(n+3) & =0 \\ \text { or } & n & =4 \end{aligned}$ Now as the first line of the series has the maximum wavelength, therefore electron jumps from the $4^{\text {th }}$ orbit to the third orbit.

Asked in: NEET 2009 (Screening)

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