Atomic Ground State: What Is It?

[smscannell]

Homework Statement

Hey guys, I'm studying AS level physics at the moment in the UK and I'm having a hard time grasping the concept of the ground state of an atom, so my question is:
Is the ground state the energy level that is closest to the atoms nucleus or is it the energy level that a certain electron involved in a quantum jump originates from. (Or have I just got it all completely wrong)

2. The attempt at a solution

After looking through my textbooks and on the internet all I've got is that when an atom is in its ground state it cannot lose energy because there are no available states of lower energy and the only examples I've found are for electrons that originate from the energy level closest to the nucleus.

Thanks in advance for any replies!

 

[zhermes]

The most fundamental property of the ground state is simply that its the lowest allowed energy state.

It does occur closest to the nucleus than excited energy levels (this point can get a little complicated, but its a good rule of thumb).
It does also happen to be an energy level important in energy transitions (especially for hydrogen).