Electrons in atoms

Electrons in atoms

1. Ionization energy

   • Ionization energy is the energy required to remove one mole of electron from an atom in its gaseous state
     • 1st Ionisation energy - Energy needed to remove the 1st outmost electron, 2nd Ionisation energy - energy needed to remove the 2nd outmost electron..etc
   • In an emission spectrum, the limit of convergence at higher frequency corresponds to the first ionisation energy
   • We can calculate the ionisation energy from the convergence limit
     • The transition from n=1 to n=infinity corresponds to ionization which is the removal of the electron from the 's orbital.
   • Successive ionisation energy data for an element give information that shows relations to electron configurations
     • As you remove one electron, it takes more energy to remove the next electron because the effective nuclear charge is stronger upon the removal of each electron.
       • There are jumps in energies needed to remove electrons depending upon how close you are to the nucleus. The valence electrons are the easiest to remove.
         • (Generally) the ionization energies increase as one moves from left to right on the periodic table
           • As you move from left to right, the nuclear charge increases therefore making it more difficult to remove an electron
             • As you move down the periodic table. there is a decrease in ionisation energies because the outermost electron are further away from the nucleus

2. Energy levels and hydrogen

   • Energy levels in the hydrogen atom converge at higher energy
   • At the convergence limit, the lines merge to form a continuum
     • Beyond this point, the electron is free from any influence of the nucleus

3. E = hv

   • H is -> hc/λ. H is Planck's constant, V is frequency of light, C is speech of light, λ is wavelength (m)
     • The equation can be used to work out the differenced in energy between various levels in the hydrogen atom