Question

What does the peak of a probability curve for an electron in an atom indicate?

Answer 1

The options for the given question are given below.

a) the location where there is zero probability of finding the electron

b) that the electron’s location can be precisely determined

c) that Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle is violated

d) the distance from the nucleus at which the electron is most likely to be found

Answer : The correct option is d "the distance from the nucleus at which the electron is most likely to be found"

Explanation :

The probability distribution curve is the plot of density function ( represented by y axis) vs the distance of electron from the nucleus ( represented by x axis).

The peak of the curve shows the maximum density of finding an electron. The corresponding value on x axis therefore represents the distance at which this maximum density can be located.

Therefore we can say that the peak of a probability curve for an electron in an atom indicate the distance from the nucleus at which the electron is most likely to be found.

Answer 2

The distance from the nucleus at which the electron is most likely to be found