Answer
(a) The minimum number of photons that can be emitted is 1.
(b) The maximum number of photons that can be emitted is 4.
Work Step by Step
(a) If the electron is in the n=5 level, the electron could jump down to the ground state directly and one photon would be emitted. The minimum number of photons that can be emitted is 1.
(b) If the electron is in the n=5 level, the electron could jump down to the n=4 level, then to the n=3 level, then to the n=2 level, and then to the ground state and one photon would be emitted for each change. The maximum number of photons that can be emitted is 4.
