Question

For a hydrogen atom, which electronic transition would result in the emission of a photon with the highest energy?

Answer 1

Answer: A

Explanation:

Considering the order of filling electrons into orbitals, movement from a higher to a lower energy level results in the emission of a photon with energy equal to the energy difference between the two energy levels. However, the energies of different orbitals are close together for high values of n (principal quantum number). Their relative energies may change significantly when they form ions. This implies that energy levels are better separated and have high differences in energy for low values of n. Hence the answer. This means that photons transiting between these Lowe n levels will posses higher photon energy due to larger energy difference between levels.