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Vibrational transitions in which a molecule gains a quantum of vibrational energy. The fundamental transitions give rise to absorption in the mid-infrared in the regions around 1650 cm −1 (μ band, 6 μm) and 3500 cm −1 (so-called X band, 2.9 μm) Electronic transitions in which a molecule is promoted to an excited electronic state.
For example, the absorption spectrum for ethane shows a σ → σ* transition at 135 nm and that of water a n → σ* transition at 167 nm with an extinction coefficient of 7,000. Benzene has three aromatic π → π* transitions; two E-bands at 180 and 200 nm and one B-band at 255 nm with extinction coefficients respectively 60,000, 8,000 and 215.
The energy of an electron is determined by its orbit around the atom, The n = 0 orbit, commonly referred to as the ground state, has the lowest energy of all states in the system. In atomic physics and chemistry , an atomic electron transition (also called an atomic transition, quantum jump, or quantum leap) is an electron changing from one ...
Electron transitions and their resulting wavelengths for hydrogen. Energy levels are not to scale. A hydrogen atom consists of an electron orbiting its nucleus.The electromagnetic force between the electron and the nuclear proton leads to a set of quantum states for the electron, each with its own energy.
Atomic electron transitions cause the emission or absorption of photons. Their statistics are Poissonian , and the time between jumps is exponentially distributed . [ 1 ] The damping time constant (which ranges from nanoseconds to a few seconds) relates to the natural, pressure, and field broadening of spectral lines .
The absorption that occurs due to a transition between two states is referred to as an absorption line and a spectrum is typically composed of many lines. The frequencies at which absorption lines occur, as well as their relative intensities, primarily depend on the electronic and molecular structure of the sample.
[4] [5] Reverse electron transitions for all these types of excited molecules are also possible to return to their ground states, which can be designated as σ* → σ, π* → π, or π* → n. A transition in an energy level of an electron in a molecule may be combined with a vibrational transition and called a vibronic transition.
Atoms can be excited by heat, electricity, or light. The hydrogen atom provides a simple example of this concept.. The ground state of the hydrogen atom has the atom's single electron in the lowest possible orbital (that is, the spherically symmetric "1s" wave function, which, so far, has been demonstrated to have the lowest possible quantum numbers).