A hydrogen atom, initially at rest in its ground state, absorbs a photon of frequency and ejects the electron with a kinetic energy of 10 eV. The electron then combines with a positron at rest to form a positronium atom in its ground state and simultaneously emits a photon of frequency . The center of mass of the resulting positronium atom moves with a kinetic energy of 5 eV. It is given that positron has the same mass as that of electron and the positronium atom can be considered as a Bohr atom, in which the electron and the positron orbit around their center of mass. Considering no other energy loss during the whole process, the difference between the two photon energies (in eV) is _____.
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JEE Advanced 2025 · Paper 2, Physics question 10
Answer and worked solution
Official answer: 11.7
First photon. It must ionise hydrogen and supply the electron's kinetic energy:
Positronium. With reduced mass , the ground-state energy is eV.
Second photon. Energy is conserved, with the photon's momentum negligible. The positronium, of mass , has kinetic energy 5 eV, consistent with momentum conservation:
Difference. eV.