excited state

American  

noun

Physics.

1. any of the energy levels of a physical system, especially an atom, molecule, etc., that has higher energy than the lowest energy level.

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excited state Scientific  

/ ĭk-sī′tĭd /

1. A state of a physical system in which the system has more than the minimum possible potential energy. Excited states tend to be unstable and easily or spontaneously revert to lower energy states, giving off energy.

2. Compare ground state

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Etymology

Origin of excited state

First recorded in 1925–30

Compare meaning

How does excited-state compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• ground state vs. excited state

Example Sentences

The former can attack solvent molecules that are already close to complex before the light excitation, while the latter excited state exists long enough to attack aromatic substrates after diffusional collision.

From Science Daily • Feb. 9, 2024

To capture the protons in this excited state and explore their 3D resonances, the team sent a high-energy electron beam into a chamber of cooled hydrogen gas.

From Salon • Sep. 1, 2023

As a result, the lawmaker said, Prigozhin, committed treason due to "exorbitant ambitions", money and what he cast as an "excited state".

From Reuters • Jun. 29, 2023

To make the atoms interact, physicists point a separate laser at one of them to tickle it into an excited state, in which an outer electron orbits much farther away from the nucleus than normal.

From Scientific American • Feb. 13, 2023

And more as a consequence of the excited state in which this idea put Gregor than as a result of an actual decision, he swung himself with all his might out of the bed.

From "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka