Skip to content

Course home

x
Sign up
x

Quantised energy transfer

Quantised energy transfer

Energy-level diagram showing a free electron with 6.7 eV exciting an atom to a level 4.9 eV above ground, leaving 1.8 eV kinetic energy and emitting a photon on de-excitation

Atoms have discrete energy levels, so a free electron cannot give an atom just any amount of energy in a collision. Energy is transferred in fixed amounts that match the gaps between allowed levels.

Collisions of electrons with atoms Lesson

  1. A Level
  2. /Physics
  3. /Collisions of electrons with atoms

Step-by-step lessons on AQA A Level Physics Collisions of electrons with atoms. Each one builds up to exam-style questions. Physics is one of the most mathematically demanding A Levels -- at least 40% of the marks require maths skills at Level 2 (GCSE) standard or above, so build calculation and graph-handling fluency alongside the conceptual content from the start.

Lessons