How does the electron get back to the ground state at the energy level? [closed]








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I have a doubt about how this emission process is carried out in the atom where we have the orbiting electron and we want the electron to return to the fundamental value.


I know that in absorption we inject a light on top of the atom the electron at a certain frequency electron becomes energized it starts to jump from the fundamental level to the excited level. I don't know what method is used when it is emitted, I would like an explanation, please, on the subject, the little I understood is by temperature, but it was not clear to me.


[![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/2YOf5.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/2YOf5.png)




There are a *number* of ways an electron can return to ground state from a higher metastable state. Here are two:


* Spontaneous transition, as in [fluorescence and phosphorescence](https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Analytical_Chemistry/Molecular_and_Atomic_Spectroscopy_(Wenzel)/3:_Molecular_Luminescence/3.2:_Energy_States_and_Transitions), where the electron emits radiation, removing the energy.
* Radiationless decay, AKA external conversion, in which collision with other particles transfers energy as heat.


BTW, a metastable state can be quite long-lasting. [Thermoluminescence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoluminescence) is used to date ceramic, [igneous rock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igneous_rock) and other materials thousands or *millions* years old. A different meaning to *dating for the long term*...


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