## En Equation - Why the Negative?

H-Atom ($E_{n}=-\frac{hR}{n^{2}}$)

Dayna Pham 1I
Posts: 98
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2018 12:16 am
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### En Equation - Why the Negative?

Hello!
I thought energy could only be positive, why does the equation for energy at a specific principle quantum number have a negative sign in front of it? Is this applied to find change in energy?

En = -hR/n^2

Douglas Nguyen 2J
Posts: 71
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2018 12:15 am

### Re: En Equation - Why the Negative?

Hello!
I thought energy could only be positive, why does the equation for energy at a specific principle quantum number have a negative sign in front of it? Is this applied to find change in energy?

En = -hR/n^2

Because when applied to delta E=E(final)-E(initial), delta E is energy emitted. It is used to calculate either the energy emitted or to find the initial/final energy level.

Danny Zhang 4L
Posts: 62
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2018 12:26 am

### Re: En Equation - Why the Negative?

We use the negative sign to clearly indicate that energy increases as n increases.