Question

What is the effective nuclear charge in hydrogen atom?

Answer 1

In hydrogen atom, there is only one electron. Hence, there is no electron shielding at all. That means the shielding constant `S = 0`, and so:

`Z_"eff" = Z - cancel(S)^(0)`

and the effective nuclear charge is `Z_"eff" = Z = 1`, where `Z` is the atomic number.