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  4. An electron moves away from the nucleus, its potential energy

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Q. An electron moves away from the nucleus, its potential energy

ManipalManipal 2011Structure of Atom

Solution:

An electron moves away from the nucleus, its potential energy increases. The potential energy of the electron is minimum at equilibrium distance from the nucleus. As this distance increases / decreases, its potential energy increases.
Thus, when electron is excited a higher energy orbital it gets farther away from the atom. The further the orbital is from the nucleus, the higher the potential energy of an electron at that energy level.