## Atomic Spectroscopy Conceptually

H-Atom ($E_{n}=-\frac{hR}{n^{2}}$)

Liam Maxwell 2E
Posts: 53
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 7:07 am

### Atomic Spectroscopy Conceptually

I am having a little trouble imagining what exactly happens to an electron when it is excited and moves up an energy level. An electron revolves around the nucleus in somewhat of an unpredictable way so when it is excited where exactly does it go? Does it move farther away from the nucleus?

Sarah_Stay_1D
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Joined: Sat Jul 22, 2017 3:00 am
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### Re: Atomic Spectroscopy Conceptually

Liam Maxwell 3F wrote:I am having a little trouble imagining what exactly happens to an electron when it is excited and moves up an energy level. An electron revolves around the nucleus in somewhat of an unpredictable way so when it is excited where exactly does it go? Does it move farther away from the nucleus?

It may help you to imagine the energy levels as circles rather than lines (I attached an image for reference). Also, the energy levels are not stacked straight on top of each other, they are more like orbitals. Orbitals are different for each element and can become very complex.
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Nhan Nguyen 2F
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Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2017 3:00 am
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### Re: Atomic Spectroscopy Conceptually

Hi,
You can imagine excited electron movements similar to when you pluck guitar strings. When you pluck on a string, the string vibrates, creating an image of rapid side-to-side movements. This is like electrons in which they move up an energy level and then back down to its original state - this process emits energy. How much the string on a guitar vibrates depends on how much force you put on plucking the string. Likewise, how far an electron travels from its ground/original state depends on how much energy is being absorbed by that electron.

Hope this helps

Juanalv326
Posts: 49
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 7:04 am

### Re: Atomic Spectroscopy Conceptually

What about if your photon were to be absorbed at the highest energy at a ground state hydrogen? What would be the value of n?