Photon
An electron can be located in any of several energy levels around the nucleus of an atom. Usually, an electron will occupy the "ground state," which is the lowest energy level available. Electrons can be thought of as being lazy, which means they don't want to work any harder than they have to; and occupying the ground state amounts to the path of least resistance. Occasionally, however, an electron can "bump up" to a higher energy level. It can do this by absorbing energy from an outside source, such as an electrical current. It will occupy this higher energy level for a certain amount of time, then drop back to its ground state, releasing that same energy it absorbed to get there. The amount of energy absorbed is called a quantum. Often, the electron will release that quantum of energy as a photon, which is a "bundle" of light. Billions of photons can be a light that you can see, and this is how neon lights and glow sticks work. So the higher an energy level an electron occupies, the higher its energy.
It isn't so much a matter of there being a given "quantum of energy" as much as energy is quantized. This means that particles that behave quantum mechanical laws can only have certain values of energy and not the values in between. The most popular example of this is an electron in an atom. Quantum theory tells us that the electron can be in it's ground state energy, which has a given value, or it's first excited state, which has another given value, or any higher excited state. However, you cannot observe an electron with an energy value in between the ground state and first excited state, or between any two consecutive excited states. This is what it means to have quantized energy: only certain discrete values are allowed.
It can and when it does the electrons do transition into a higher energy orbit.
Energy is either absorbed or released. If the electron goes from a high energy orbital to a lower energy one, a photon is emitted. When a photon is absorbed, the electron goes from low energy to high.
In reality wherever there is harmony or matching then energy would be easily handed over or transferred. Same way as the electron status in an atom is in harmony with the falling electromagnetic radiation then that energy would be absorbed by the electron and so the electron would go to the higher energy level. This is what we call excitation. This is how heat is getting transferred to the molecules of fluid, atoms of solid etc. Light too gets absorbed by the leaves in the process of photo synthesis.
photon
photon
When an electron is moved to a higher energy level,after absorption, the quantum no longer exists as a separate entity -- its energy has been seamlessly integrated ...into the orbital energy of the electron. If the electon absorbs another quantum, that is likewise integrated seamlessly. if the electron drops down a level toward the nucleus, it emits some of its energy as a quantum, outside the electron, that quantum exists as a photon (electromagnetic radiation). inside an electron, there are no separate or independent quanta. in case of an annihilation, ALL the energy of the electron turns into one quantum (and all the energy of the positron into another quantum).If i didn't do a good job of explaining this, please post in the DiscBrd AND send me a private message, and i will try to clarify.
This electron is called excited.
An electron can be located in any of several energy levels around the nucleus of an atom. Usually, an electron will occupy the "ground state," which is the lowest energy level available. Electrons can be thought of as being lazy, which means they don't want to work any harder than they have to; and occupying the ground state amounts to the path of least resistance. Occasionally, however, an electron can "bump up" to a higher energy level. It can do this by absorbing energy from an outside source, such as an electrical current. It will occupy this higher energy level for a certain amount of time, then drop back to its ground state, releasing that same energy it absorbed to get there. The amount of energy absorbed is called a quantum. Often, the electron will release that quantum of energy as a photon, which is a "bundle" of light. Billions of photons can be a light that you can see, and this is how neon lights and glow sticks work. So the higher an energy level an electron occupies, the higher its energy.
A photon is emitted when an electron falls from a higher to lower orbital. A photon is an elementary particles, the quantum of light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation.
"Absorbed"
Light or photons are little packets of energy. When this energy is absorbed by an electron it boots the electrons energy and the electron jumps to a higher orbital shell position (which must be vacant of its electron). The electron can only do this when the energy needed for the jump and the energy in the incoming photon match. Thus specific colours of light are absorbed depending on the element present.
If an electron transits to a lower energy level, it releases a quantum of energy which is equivalent to the energy difference between the states. If the electron travels to upwards, it absorbs a similar quantum of energy.
It releases the same amount of energy that it absorbed when it was excited to a higher energy state.
jumps to the a higher orbital. This is only possible if the energy it absorbed is large enough to let it jump the gap. If the energy is not large enough for the electron to jump that gap, the electron is forbidden to absorb any of that energy.
It isn't so much a matter of there being a given "quantum of energy" as much as energy is quantized. This means that particles that behave quantum mechanical laws can only have certain values of energy and not the values in between. The most popular example of this is an electron in an atom. Quantum theory tells us that the electron can be in it's ground state energy, which has a given value, or it's first excited state, which has another given value, or any higher excited state. However, you cannot observe an electron with an energy value in between the ground state and first excited state, or between any two consecutive excited states. This is what it means to have quantized energy: only certain discrete values are allowed.