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Imagine looking at the colorful, dazzling lights of fireworks. These lights come from bursts of energy emitted by different atoms in the fireworks.
Let's find out how!
Energy levels are regions around an atom's nucleus where electrons move, much like steps on a staircase. Electrons can only occupy these specific steps and cannot exist between them.
The farther an energy level is from the nucleus, the more energy its electrons carry.
Smaller regions within an energy level where electrons are most likely to be located are known as orbital.
Electrons in an atom's outermost energy level are called valence electrons.
When fireworks explode, the heat gives the valence electrons extra energy, making them jump to higher levels, like climbing stairs. When they fall back to their original levels, they release that energy as light.
Different atoms have different patterns of electrons, so they give off light with different amounts of energy. This energy creates the bright colors we see in fireworks.
