---
title: "The complete photoelectron spectra for gaseous samples of boron and carbon are represented below.  Which of the following statements best explains why the peak representing the \\(2s\\) electrons in the photoelectron spectrum of carbon appears at a higher binding energy than the corresponding peak in the spectrum of boron?"
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url: "https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/119897/"
date_modified: "2026-08-21T08:17:12+00:00"
---

# The complete photoelectron spectra for gaseous samples of boron and carbon are represented below.

Which of the following statements best explains why the peak representing the \(2s\) electrons in the photoelectron spectrum of carbon appears at a higher binding energy than the corresponding peak in the spectrum of boron?

The complete photoelectron spectra for gaseous samples of boron and carbon are represented below.

Which of the following statements best explains why the peak representing the \(2s\) electrons in the photoelectron spectrum of carbon appears at a higher binding energy than the corresponding peak in the spectrum of boron?

![Two photoelectron spectra stacked vertically with a single shared horizontal axis labeled Binding Energy (\(\text{MJ/mol}\)). The horizontal axis is logarithmic, with values decreasing from left to right with tick marks at \(100\), \(10\), \(1.0\), and \(0.10\). The vertical axis on each spectrum is labeled Relative Number of Electrons. The top spectrum is labeled Boron and contains three solid black vertical peaks: a peak at \(19.3\text{ MJ/mol}\) with a relative height of \(2\), a peak at \(1.36\text{ MJ/mol}\) with a relative height of \(2\), and a peak at \(0.80\text{ MJ/mol}\) with a relative height of \(1\). The bottom spectrum is labeled Carbon and contains three solid black vertical peaks: a peak at \(28.6\text{ MJ/mol}\) with a relative height of \(2\), a peak at \(1.72\text{ MJ/mol}\) with a relative height of \(2\), and a peak at \(1.09\text{ MJ/mol}\) with a relative height of \(2\). Bare axes with labeled ticks are shown without gridlines. No other peaks, labels, text, or annotations appear.](https://nerd-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/ubq-frq-generated/stem-fig-1-1787300231-G4YIVo.jpg)

- **A.** The \(2s\) electrons in \(\text{C}\) experience a stronger Coulombic attraction to the nucleus because carbon has a greater nuclear charge than boron while having the same number of inner-shell shielding electrons.
- **B.** The \(2s\) electrons in \(\text{C}\) experience less electron-electron shielding because the two electrons in the \(2p\) subshell of carbon shield the \(2s\) subshell more effectively than the single \(2p\) electron in boron.
- **C.** The \(2s\) electrons in \(\text{B}\) experience a weaker Coulombic attraction to the nucleus because the \(2s\) electrons in boron occupy a higher principal energy level than the \(2s\) electrons in carbon.
- **D.** The \(2s\) electrons in \(\text{B}\) experience a weaker Coulombic attraction to the nucleus because boron has fewer protons, which causes its \(1s\) core electrons to exert greater shielding on the \(2s\) subshell.

*The answer key and step-by-step explanation are available to logged-in users at https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/119897/*