Apart from saying that electron orbitals have specific energy levels and can only absorb light of that energy/wavelength, what actually causes electrons to absorb the energy?
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Apart from saying that electron orbitals have specific energy levels and can only absorb light of that energy/wavelength,
Please note that we call them electron orbitals because we assume a framework where the nucleus is at rest. They are actually "atomic orbitals" It is the whole atom that changes in energy when a photon is absorbed.
what actually causes electrons to absorb the energy?
Electrons do not absorb energy. The atom does, and the electron is raised into a higher energy orbital. The cause is the impinging of a photon that carries the energy packet that separates the two orbitals.
anna v
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Fundamentally, the process responsible for the absorption / emission of a photon is expressed in the Hamiltonian coupling the field to the atom, that is $$ H=-\bf{d.E} $$ so it is the the field-dipole interaction which is at stake here, and it is this interaction that dictates the selection rules for the transitions.
Pen
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I think the electrons requires energy to transit into higher energy level... Because energy changes when we move from one orbit to another
