Energy increasing

[005343842]

When it says as you increase in energy levels, the energy increases. Does that mean energy of the electrons or of the whole atom?

[Kayla Maldonado 1C]

Increasing in energy levels refers to an electron within an atom when they absorb enough energy to move from a lower to higher energy level.

[Angus Wu_4G]

When a problem says that the energy level has increased, it is referring only to a specific electron. That electron has absorbed a certain amount of energy to have increased its energy and moved to a higher quantum level, (n=1 to n=3). Conversely, when the energy level decreases, the electron drops from a high energy level to a lower energy level and releases energy in the process. (n=3 to n=1).

[Ramneet Sandhu 3D]

So how would an increase/decrease in energy level affect the orbitals (s, p, d, f)? Does energy level determine the orbitals?

[Kendra Barreras 3E]

The principal quantum number, n, determines the energy level of the electron in an atom. There are n^2 orbitals for each energy level.

[erica thompson 4I]

I thought that the energy levels decreased as you moved further away from the nucleus because there was less electrostatic attraction?

[lilymayek_1E]

for erica, think of electron energy being completely separate from the electrostatic attraction; this is primarily because the quantum levels for an electron solely depend on the electron itself, not the forces acting on it.

[Sofia Barker 2C]

The number of energy levels has no correlation or correspondence with electrostatic force. Electrostatic force is merely the attraction between negatively charged electrons and positively charged protons in an atom, and this force does not dictate how many energy levels an atom has. Rather, the amount of energy levels is based on the principle quantum number associated with the given atom.