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Can inner electrons get excited? Can an already excited electron get excited again without first dropping to a lower energy level?

Physics Asked on April 28, 2021

Is it only the valence electrons that can get excited or can the inner electrons get excited too?
Plus, say for example can a electron of a hydrogen atom go from n=2 to n=3 without first returning to n=1?
Thanks.

2 Answers

yes they can. However, to knock an inner electron up and into a higher energy level requires more energy, the deeper you go into the orbital structure. For example, for a low-lying orbital in something like aluminum, it takes ~tens of kiloelectron volts to do the trick, and when the electron decays back to its original state it will throw off an x-ray photon.

Answered by niels nielsen on April 28, 2021

Absolutely the ejection of inner shell electrons is possible! As a chemist, this is one of the best techniques for the identification of atomic compositions of materials in a process called X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy. Of course, electrons don't have to be completely ejected either. It is perfectly possible to promote them to higher shells, only to see a cascade of other processes happen afterwards to refill the "hole" left behind. Here is a link to a site that gives a very basic overview, as well as some very nice diagrams and examples: https://web.archive.org/web/20131228123922/http://www.amptek.com/pdf/characteristic_xrays.pdf

Answered by Matt Hanson on April 28, 2021

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