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    maro16's Avatar
    maro16 Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Sep 28, 2009, 09:01 PM
    About photons of light
    What physically happens to a molecule when a photon of visible light is absorbed by it?
    Perito's Avatar
    Perito Posts: 3,139, Reputation: 150
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    #2

    Sep 29, 2009, 03:34 AM

    It becomes "excited" -- some would say that it rises to a higher energy state. Eventually, it will give off a photon (not necessarily of the same energy as the photon it absorbed) and drop down to a lower energy state.

    Oh, and it doesn't matter if the light/radiation is visible or not.
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