Question

Electron A falls from energy level X to energy level Y and releases blue light. Electron B falls from energy level Y to energy level Z and releases red light. Which transition, from X to Y or from Y to Z, has a greater energy difference? Explain your answer and how you arrived at it. Use a diagram of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Answer 1

Answer: Transition from X to Y will have greater energy difference.

Explanation: For studying the energy difference, we require Planck's equation.

                                $E=\frac{hc}{\lambda}$

where, h = Planck's Constant

c = Speed of light

E = Energy

$\lambda$ = Wavelength of particle

From the equation, it is visible that the energy and wavelength follow inverse relation which means that with low wavelength value, energy will be the highest and vice-versa.

As electron A falls from X-energy level to Y-energy level, it releases blue light which has low wavelength value (around 470 nm) which means that it has high energy.

Similarly, Electron B releases red light when it falls from Y-energy level to Z-energy level, which has high wavelength value (around 700 nm), giving it a low energy value.

Energy Difference between X-energy level and Y-energy level will be more.