What transitions represent the emission of a photon with the largest energy?

A. n = 2 to n = 1

B. n = 3 to n = 1

Explanation:

The question is incomplete, the correct form is:

What transitions represent the emission of a photon with the largest energy?

A. n = 2 to n = 1

B. n = 3 to n = 1

C. n = 6 to n = 3

D. n = 1 to n = 4

E. n = 2 to n = 5

The emission of a photon has its origin when an electronic transition occurs. An electron in an atom or ion will absorb energy coming from a source, and pass to a higher energy level. The electron, upon returning to its ground state, will emit a photon or a series of photons.

That photon will have an energy that will be equal to the difference between the energy levels in which the electronic transition occurs.

Remember that an electron has energy levels in an atom or ion, at which each energy level has an specific value.  

Electrons that are close to the nucleus will experience a higher electromagnetic force, as it can be seen in equation 1.

 (1)

Where F is the electromagnetic force, is the proportionality constant, q1 and q2 are the charged particles and r is the distance between them.

Therefore, a great amount of energy is needed to rip the electron from its ground state (to be ionized).