When electrons get excited can they only move up one level or can they go up multiple orbitals, but just one at a time.
The go up and they can go up 1 level at a time or they may go up two levels or three level or to infinity (which is ionization). When they fall back they may fall back all at once or in steps.
Oh ok. That makes sense. Thank you!
When electrons get excited, they can move up from one orbital to another, but only one at a time. It is important to note that electrons can only occupy specific energy levels or orbitals in an atom, which are determined by the quantum mechanics of the atom.
To understand how electrons move between energy levels, we should consider the concept of electronic configuration. The electronic configuration of an atom tells us how electrons are distributed among different orbitals. Each orbital can hold a specific maximum number of electrons.
When an electron gets excited, it absorbs energy and moves to a higher energy level or orbital. This process is known as electron excitation. However, an electron cannot jump directly to a high energy level; it progresses step by step.
For example, let's consider the electron configuration of a hydrogen atom. The ground state electronic configuration of hydrogen is 1s^1, where "1s" represents the first energy level (principal quantum number, n = 1) and the superscript "1" indicates the presence of one electron in that orbital.
When excited, the electron can move to a higher energy level, such as the second energy level (n = 2). The excited state electronic configuration of hydrogen could be 2s^1 or 2p^1 (depending on the specific transition).
However, it's important to note that an electron cannot jump from the ground state directly to the third energy level (n = 3) or above. It needs to pass through the intermediate energy levels one at a time, absorbing energy in discrete increments.
In summary, when electrons get excited, they can move up from one energy level to another, but it occurs step by step through intermediate energy levels. Electrons do not directly skip multiple energy levels.