Question

How do you calculate the energy of an electron in the ground state of a hydrogen atom ?

Answer 1

You can calculate the ground state energy using The Bohr Model

Explanation:

A simple expression for the energy of an electron in the hydrogen atom is:

`E=-(13.6)/(n^2)` where the energy is in electron volts

`n` is the principle quantum number.

This gives rise to the familiar electron energy level diagram where they converge and coalesce.

So for an electron in `n=1`:

`E=-13.6"eV"`

To convert to joules you can x this by `1.6xx10^(-19)`

For many - electron atoms quite complicated approximate methods can be used which take into account factors such as electron interactions and screening effects.