1. Tardigrade
  2. Question
  3. Chemistry
  4. An electron moves away from the nucleus, its potential energy

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

 3489  224 ManipalManipal 2011Structure of Atom Report Error

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.