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Light Absorption and Emission |
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| When a photon, or packet of light energy, is absorbed by an atom, the atom gains the energy of the photon, and one of the atom’s electrons may jump to a higher energy level. The atom is then said to be excited. When an electron of an excited atom falls to a lower energy level, the atom may emit the electron’s excess energy in the form of a photon. The energy levels, or orbitals, of the atoms shown here have been greatly simplified to illustrate these absorption and emission processes. | ||||||
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| Appears in these articles: | ||||||
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| Laser; Electron; Photon; Quantum Theory; Light | ||||||
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