This has always bugged me. The energy levels are discrete, so an electron is said to only absorb photons with EXACTLY the energy of the jump between levels. Otherwise, the photon passes straight through right? But isn't photon energy on a continuous spectrum such that the energy match would have to be infinitely precise? How is that possible?
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2Does this answer your question? If photon energies are continuous and atomic energy levels are discrete, how can atoms absorb photons? – Ghorbalchov Nov 29 '23 at 14:40