Question

A mercury atom in the ground state absorbs 20.00 electronvolts of energy and is ionized by losing an electron. How much kinetic energy does this electron have after the ionization?

Answer 1

We are given a mercury atom in the ground state which absorbs 20 eV of energy. It is then ionized by losing an electron. We need to calculate the kinetic energy that the electron has after ionization.

The initial energy is 20 eV = 20 J/C
The electron charge is = 1.60217662 × 10-19 coulombs

To determine the kinetic energy, we can use this equation:

KE = 20 Joules / Coulombs * 1.60217662 × 10-19 coulombs 
KE = 1.25x10^20 Joules 

Therefore, the amount of kinetic energy that the electron has after ionization is 1.25x10^20 Joules or 1.25x10^17 kJ.