Ground state vs. excited state

[Shuyi Yu 1B]

What does it mean for an electron configuration to represent a ground or excited state of an atom? Is it talking about the same/opposite spin?

[Nada AbouHaiba 1I]

when an electron is said to be in its excited state it has been "energized" and gone up to a particular shell, higher than the one it was originally at. Something that is in its ground state then it has either gone back down from being excited or there wasn't any source of energy and this is just naturally where the electron lies.

[Michael_Navarro_1H]

You can usually determine whether an electronic configuration represents an excited state if the diagram depicts an electron that is not in its appropriate orbital or if it has an irregular spin.

[Henry Dudley 1G]

What is the difference between a cation and an anion?

[Sydney To 1D]

Cations are positively charged ions; they are generally smaller than their parent atoms. On the other hand, anions are negatively charged ions; they are generally larger than their parent atoms.

[Richard Ku 4H]

Excited state atoms absorb energy and are promoted to higher energy levels, making them unstable. This means they experience an increase in the electron shell they occupy. Ground state electrons are just electrons that have not been excited.