Can Energy Gaps Determine Electron Excitation and Decay?

[Denver Dang]

Hi guys...

A quick question.

If you have an atom, and you want to excite an electron in that. Let's just say that the gap between every energy level of the electron is the same: 0,2 eV.
I will then fire a photon with the exact energy of 0,2 eV into the electron, and I will excite it to the first state, and then it might decay right after.
But what I'm not totally sure about is what happens if I fire something with and energy between to energy levels. I mean, if my photon is 0,1 eV the electron will not be excited, and the photon will just go through as nothing has happen - right ?
But what if I fire a photon with 0,3 eV ? Will it the excite to the first level, and emit a photon of 0,1 eV, and then after a while decay and emit a photon of 0,2 eV ? Or will there not happen anything like with the 0,1 eV photon ?

Thanks in advance.


Regards.

 

[azntoon]

In the case of a photon with 0.3 eV, it is possible for the electron to be excited to the first energy level, and then emit a photon of 0.2 eV, followed by a decay to the initial state (ground state) after a while. However, it is also possible that the electron absorbs the 0.3 eV photon and then re-emits it as 0.1 eV photon, without any excitation or decay. This will depend on the exact energy levels and the allowed transitions between them.