Question

Photons can be emitted from atoms by heating them up, where electrons are excited to higher energy states by thermal excitations and they subsequently decay to lower states releasing photons. Would it be possible to use the same method in practice in order to obtain photons as a result of the nuclear transitions? Explain how and why. Which temperature would be needed for that?

Answer 1

Yes , This same method can be used to obtain photons in fact this method is used for producing laser light using excitation of electron of chromium atoms present as impurity in ruby or corundum . The transition, or the movement, of an electron between energy levels, in an atom can occur in more than one way. For an electron to transition to a higher energy level, it must absorb energy, If an atom collides with another atom, ion, or electron, the atom can become excited. An excited atom is an atom where an electron has moved from a lower to a higher energy level.

Another way an atom can become excited is by absorbing a photon, a small bundle of electromagnetic radiation. Electromagnetic radiation, or light, is a form of energy t,hat has wave-like properties. Therefore, the energy of a photon depends on its wavelength; the shorter the wavelength, the higher the energy.

Only photons of specific wavelengths can be absorbed by an atom. Basically, the photon is like an energy drink for a little electron, giving it more buzz to jump up higher into a higher energy level.

But just like people may have a preference for one energy drink to another, atoms have preferences for the kinds of photons they can absorb. Only photons with energies equal to the energy difference between two energy levels in a specific atom can be absorbed. This means electrons can occupy only certain permitted energy levels; there are no energy levels in between.

Consequently, when just the right kind of photon hits an atom, it's absorbed, and the electron jumps to a higher energy level. Since atoms have many energy levels, depending on how energetic this photon is, the electron can jump up one or more energy levels. All of this also means that more than one wavelength of light can be absorbed by a single atom to get an electron to jump into a higher energy level.

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