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I'm really confused, they get energy that makes them "excited" but what releases the energy?

Qmechanic
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Owen Abbott
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  • Using the hydrogen atom as an example, it's important to understand that you're actually dealing with two objects (proton and electron), interacting via a conservative force (the electromagnetic force), which means that there is a potential energy associated with their interaction. Classically, the energy of the photon that's released comes from the electron getting closer to the proton, which means that there is a decrease in potential energy, and that extra energy went into the photon. – march Nov 03 '16 at 16:50
  • Possible duplicates: http://physics.stackexchange.com/q/158604/50583, http://physics.stackexchange.com/q/74098/50583 – ACuriousMind Nov 03 '16 at 17:10
  • What releases the energy? That could be... the Sun. Or any source of heat. Electrons absorb some energy to reach a higher energy level - in other words, to become "excited". It doesn't really matter where that energy comes from, as long as the energy "package" is enough. – Steeven Nov 04 '16 at 16:05

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Electrons can get excited by absorbing photons carrying energy. By absorbing a photon an electron's energy increases by exactly E=hf where h is planck's constant and f is the frequency of the photon. It is a natural tendency of everthing to remain at the lowest stable energy state, so to reach a lower energy state, the electron releases the energy in the form of a photon and acquires a lower energy and a more stable state.

Aniansh
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    You have to make clear that you are talking of a bound state of electrons around nucleus. – anna v Nov 03 '16 at 17:11
  • Yes, the electrons can get excited and release energy only in a bound state in an atom – Aniansh Nov 03 '16 at 18:32
  • Everyone keeps saying released. I think the OP wants to know what that means. For instance we know what release means for a slingshot or a bullet but what does that mean for an electron releasing a photon? – Bill Alsept Nov 04 '16 at 16:12
  • Electron releasing a photon means electron releasing a portion of its energy and acquiring a lower energy state. – Aniansh Nov 04 '16 at 16:48
  • Yes we realize the electron ends up with less energy. The op wants to know what releases the energy or how the energy is released. What's the mechanism there? For instance is the energy ejected out of the electron and how or is the energy extracted out of the electron buy something else? What happens? – Bill Alsept Nov 04 '16 at 19:13
  • @BillAlsept To the best of my knowledge, Everything in the universe has a natural tendency to acquire a lower energy stable state. – Aniansh Nov 05 '16 at 04:37
  • Of coarse because everything has a tendency to spread its energy. The transfer of kinetic energy explains a lot of that but how does an electron transfer it's energy with a photon? What exactly happens right then? – Bill Alsept Nov 05 '16 at 17:49