Why is a photon released when an electron moves to a more stable level

[bobsmith76]

Does anyone known this, or is this something that is not known. Where is the photon located before it is released? Is it located in the electron?

 

[fzero]

Does anyone known this, or is this something that is not known. Where is the photon located before it is released? Is it located in the electron?

The photon is released by conservation of energy. The photon didn't exist anywhere before, but an amount of potential energy did. Quantum field theory allows energy to be converted to newly created particles as long as the conservations laws of nature (energy, electric charge, etc.) are satisfied.

 

[bobsmith76]

thanks, I really appreciate your answer

 

[daumphys]

Photon is electromagnetic wave, too. At low temperature long wave length electromagnetic waves are released. But, at high temperature short wave length electromagnetic waves are released. The energy moving direction is from high temperature to low temperature.

 

[Ken G]

I would add that any "why" question in physics must be interpreted as a "what does some particular theory say." That is because we have many theories to treat the same phenomenon in physics, and they all give a different "why" answer. If you want our best and most accurate description, it still isn't "the Truth", but it's part of a very beautiful and amazingly accurate theory called quantum field theory. I'm no expert, but I believe the answer in that theory would be, the vacuum is filled with "virtual photons" (among other things), and those virtual photons are constantly appearing and disappearing (and may be related to Dark Energy, though no one knows for sure), but they cannot stick around long enough to be considered "real" photons because there isn't the energy available to make them real (like Pinocchio and the real boy). Conservation laws can be violated for a short time, since the uncertainty principle says that a given energy imbalance E can only persist for time h/E, and that's what allows virtual particles to "kind of exist", but one needs to find a real energy source to promote virtual photons to real status. An atom is perturbed by the virtual photon, which is what permits the transition in the first place (otherwise atomic levels would be permanent states, called eigenstates), and in return for the favor, the atom supplies the perturbing virtual photon with the real energy, from potential energy in the atom (whether or not potential energy actually constitutes "real energy" is a debate for metaphysics). That real energy makes Pinocchio a real boy.