SOLUTION: What is the wavelength and frequency of light required to ionize a hydrogen atom (that is, to completely remove its electron)? This light is in what part of the EM spectrum?

Question 1102042: What is the wavelength and frequency of light required to ionize a hydrogen atom (that is, to completely remove its electron)? This light is in what part of the EM spectrum?
Answer by Alan3354(69443) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
What is the wavelength and frequency of light required to ionize a hydrogen atom (that is, to completely remove its electron)? This light is in what part of the EM spectrum?
=================================
The ionization energy of hydrogen is 1312 kJ/mol. The energy required to ionize a single hydrogen atom is this quantity divided by Avagadro's number (the number of particles in a mole):
(1.312*10^6 J/mol)/(6.022*10^23 atoms/mol) =
2.179*10^-18 J/atom

The energy of a photon is related to its wavelength by:
E = h*c/wavelength
where c is the speed of light in a vacuum = 2.998*10^8 m/s
h is Planck's constant = 6.626*10^-34 (kg*m^2)/s
Solving for the wavelength of a photon that has enough energy to ionize hydrogen:
wavelength = (2.998*10^8 m/s)*(6.626*10^-34 (kg*m^2)/s)/(2.179*10^-18 J)
wavelength = 9.118*10^-8 m = 91.18 nm

RELATED QUESTIONS
What is the wavelength of light that has a frequency of 4.22X 10^15... (answered by drj,rfer)

The frequency of a photon of light is related to its wavelength by the following formula: (answered by MathLover1)

The wavelength of light from a particular monochromatic source is measured to be 6.80 x... (answered by solver91311,ikleyn)

What is the wavelength of radiation with a frequency of 1.50X10^13 Hz? Does this... (answered by Alan3354)

The frequency of a radio wave varies inversely as its wavelength. If a 50-meter wave has... (answered by ankor@dixie-net.com)

The speed of a wave varies jointly with the wavelength and the frequency of the wave. If (answered by Mathtut)

The frequency of a sound wave is called its pitch. The pitch p of a musical tone and its... (answered by Theo)

The length of a wave varies jointly with the wavelength and the frequency of the wave.... (answered by stanbon)

The wavelength, w, of a radio signal is inversely proportional to its frequency, f. When... (answered by Alan3354)