How does an electron jumping down an orbital create photons?

Question

How does an electron jumping down an orbital create photons?

In: 3

Answer 1

Electrons in higher orbitals have more energy than electrons in lower orbitals. When an electron moves from a higher state to a lower state, it has to lose energy. Since electrons mainly interact with the electromagnetic field, and the electromagnetic field is quantized with photons, the electron releases that extra energy in the form of a photon.