Photon-Electron Interaction


This animation illustrates the absorption and emission of photons by an atom. An electron revolving around the nucleus may capture an incident photon. When that occurs, the electron is raised to a higher energy level, and changes its orbit to one with a larger radius. While in this excited state, eventually the electron reemits the photon and returns to the ground state. You can also watch for virtual photon emission, the phenomenon involving the emission of the photon and its immediate recapture upon change of orbit.


Chemistry | Science & Math | Worsley School


Thank you to Sergey Kiselev and Tanya Yanovsky-Kiselev for the applet
HTML and design by Bill Willis 2001
Wunderland Website Design