What does it mean that an electron is in its ground state vs excited state?
When an atom is in an excited state, the electron can drop all the way to the ground state in one go, or stop on the way in an intermediate level. Electrons do not stay in excited states for very long – they soon return to their ground states, emitting a photon with the same energy as the one that was absorbed.
How does an electron lose energy?
When an electron is hit by a photon of light, it absorbs the quanta of energy the photon was carrying and moves to a higher energy state.
The ground state of an electron, the energy level it normally occupies, is the state of lowest energy for that electron. An electron can become excited if it is given extra energy, such as if it absorbs a photon, or packet, of light, or collides with a nearby atom or particle.
When an electron temporarily occupies an energy state greater than its ground state, it is in an excited state. An electron can become excited if it is given extra energy, such as if it absorbs a photon, or packet of light, or collides with a nearby atom or particle.
What is difference between ground and excited state?
The ground state describes the lowest possible energy that an atom can have. An excited state is an energy level of an atom, ion, or molecule in which an electron is at a higher energy level than its ground state. An electron is normally in its ground state, the lowest energy state available.
