Question

The ground state energy of hydrogen atom is −13.6 eV. What are the kinetic and potential energies of the electron in this state?

Answer 1

Ground state energy of hydrogen atom, E = − 13.6 eV

This is the total energy of a hydrogen atom. Kinetic energy is equal to the negative of the total energy.

Kinetic energy = − E = − (− 13.6) = 13.6 eV

Potential energy is equal to the negative of two times of kinetic energy.

Potential energy = − 2 × (13.6) = − 27.2 eV