In an atom, an electron in which of these sublevels can absorb a photon of energy but cannot emit one?
a. 3s
b. 2s
c. 3p
d. 1s
e. 3f
Would it be 1s? I don't really understand, if someone could explain this to me I'd appreciate it
Yes, it's the 1s. An electron in the 1s level can absorb energy and promote it to the the 2s (actually it can't go to the 2s BUT that IS higher), 2p, 3p, etc. While electrons in the outer levels can emit a photon while the electrons move to a lower level but at the 1s level, there is no lower level to go to.
That makes sense, thank you!
To determine which sublevel an electron can absorb a photon of energy but cannot emit one in an atom, you need to consider the energy levels and electron configurations.
In an atom, electrons are arranged in energy levels, which can be further divided into sublevels. The sublevels are denoted by letters, such as "s", "p", "d", "f", and represent different shapes of electron orbitals.
The energy levels and sublevels follow a specific order of increasing energy. In general, the energy of an orbital increases as you move further away from the nucleus and to higher sublevels.
Based on this information, let's analyze each given sublevel:
a. 3s: This is a sublevel in the third energy level. Electrons in the 3s sublevel can absorb and emit photons of energy.
b. 2s: This is a sublevel in the second energy level. Electrons in the 2s sublevel can also absorb and emit photons of energy.
c. 3p: This is a sublevel in the third energy level. Electrons in the 3p sublevel can absorb and emit photons of energy.
d. 1s: This is a sublevel in the first energy level. Electrons in the 1s sublevel can only absorb photons of energy but cannot emit photons. This is because they are in the lowest energy level and have no lower energy levels to transition to.
e. 3f: This is a sublevel in the third energy level. However, electrons in the 3f sublevel do not exist in the commonly observed elements and thus cannot be considered in this scenario.
Therefore, the correct answer is d. 1s. Electrons in the 1s sublevel can absorb photons of energy but cannot emit them because they are in the lowest energy level with no lower energy levels to transition to.