Energy is quantized in some systems, meaning that the system can have only certain energies and not a continuum of energies, unlike the classical case. This would be like having only certain speeds at...Energy is quantized in some systems, meaning that the system can have only certain energies and not a continuum of energies, unlike the classical case. This would be like having only certain speeds at which a car can travel because its kinetic energy can have only certain values. We also find that some forms of energy transfer take place with discrete lumps of energy.
For instance, if hydrogen atoms in the ground state are bombarded with photons of energy equal to the energy difference between the ground state and some excited state, some of the atoms will absorb t...For instance, if hydrogen atoms in the ground state are bombarded with photons of energy equal to the energy difference between the ground state and some excited state, some of the atoms will absorb these photons and undergo transitions to the excited state.