When an electron in a hydrogen atom jumps from the third excited state to the ground state, the de-Broglie…

When an electron in a hydrogen atom jumps from the third excited state to the ground state, the de-Broglie wavelength associated with the electron becomes
  1. $\frac{1}{32}$
  2. $\frac{1}{4}$
  3. $\frac{1}{8}$
  4. $\frac{1}{16}$

Solution

The De Broglie wavelength is $\lambda=\frac{h}{p}$, where $h=$ Planck's constant and $p=$ momentum of the electron. Also, momentum $p=m v$ and kinetic energy $E_K=\frac{1}{2} m v^2$ From the above equation, we can relate momentum $p$ and kinetic energy $E_K$ as, $p=\sqrt{2 m E_K}$ Now the ratio of wavelength of hydrogen atom when the atom jumps from third excited state to ground state viz $(n=4$ to $n=1$ ) $\frac{\lambda_1}{\lambda_2}=\frac{\frac{h}{p_1}}{\frac{h}{p_2}}=\frac{p_2}{p_1}=\sqrt{\frac{E_{K 2}}{E_{K 1}}}-\cdots(1)$ Also, we know $E_{K n}=\frac{-13.6 Z^2}{n^2}$ Using equation (1), $\frac{\lambda_1}{\lambda_2}=\frac{\sqrt{1^2}}{\sqrt{4^2}}$ So, the ratio of the wavelength of ground state $\{n=1\}$ to $3^{\text {rd }}$ excited state $\{n=4\}$ is $\frac{1}{4}$.

Asked in: MHT CET 2022 (06 Aug Shift 1)

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