Question #b9a84
1 Answer
The velocity is the same (speed of light). The energy is more from the free electron capture, which will produce a different frequency.
Explanation:
We know from quantum chemistry that the amount of energy released when an electron decays from a higher-energy orbital to a lower one is a discrete amount, and it is the same for all elements for transitions between the same orbitals.
The energy of a photon is a combination of Planck's constant and the frequency of the photon. The energy released when an electron is 'captured' by the orbital must be the difference of the energy of the electron and the energy of the orbital.
Because the "free" electron is outside of the atom to begin with, the energy difference between it and the orbital must be greater than the energy difference between two orbitals in the same element as it 'decays' into the orbital.
Therefore, the energy - and thus the frequency of the emitted light - of the photon leaving the atom will be higher in the case of a free electron capture compared to an excited state electron decay to a stable electron orbital.
