Eli5 Why does metal give off light when heated?
In: Chemistry
When you heat up a material you’re giving it energy. The law of conservation of energy tells you that that energy can’t just disappear. Some of that energy of course goes in to heat energy. Some of that goes in to other things. Such as being “converted” light.
To explain it in a little more detail (I’m not chemist so correct me if I’m wrong) :
When electrons are given energy, such as by heat, they become unstable and their energy level isn’t sustainable. In an MO diagram we visualize this by literally moving the electron up. But they can’t stay up. They’re unstable. So on their way down, they release energy.
If you want to learn about MO diagrams:
[https://chem.libretexts.org/Courses/University_of_California_Davis/UCD_Chem_110A%3A_Physical_Chemistry__I/UCD_Chem_110A%3A_Physical_Chemistry_I_(Larsen)/Lectures/27%3A_Molecular_Orbitals_with_higher_Energy_Atomic_Orbitals_(Extra_Lecture)](https://chem.libretexts.org/Courses/University_of_California_Davis/UCD_Chem_110A%3A_Physical_Chemistry__I/UCD_Chem_110A%3A_Physical_Chemistry_I_(Larsen)/Lectures/27%3A_Molecular_Orbitals_with_higher_Energy_Atomic_Orbitals_(Extra_Lecture))
They will naturally radiate that energy off in different ways. This means they give may off high energy UV or lower energy infrared. In the case of some metals, they are giving off visible light that you or I can see.
Edit: this is wrong, see the reply
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