Video Transcript
Can an electron that is part of an
atom spontaneously change from having more than the minimum energy possible for
electrons in that atom to having only the minimum energy possible for electrons in
that atom?
To begin, we need to remember that
electrons in atoms can exist in different energy levels. The lowest energy level is referred
to as the ground state or relaxed state. Any higher levels are referred to
as excited states. Also, recall that electrons will
remain in the lowest available energy level in the absence of external
influence.
Now, in simple terms, the question
is asking us if we have an electron in an atom, and it is in an excited energy
level, one that is higher than the ground state, is it possible for that electron to
spontaneously transition down to the ground state?
To answer this, we should recall
that spontaneous emission is a process in which an electron in an excited state may
decay back to a lower energy state. The electron emits a photon in this
process. This will occur even if the
electron doesn’t interact with any external object, which is why the process is
known as spontaneous decay. But what we see here is that the
electron can pass from an excited state to a state of minimum energy spontaneously,
since this can happen in the absence of external influence.
The answer to our question
therefore is yes. An electron can spontaneously
change from having more than the minimum energy possible for electrons in that atom
to having only the minimum energy possible for electrons in that atom.
