"Electrons are quanitized"...how is quantized used in the phrase??

[Haslaraga]

I am a little counfused. Is quanta the same thing as the "quantized" in the phrase? Here is the sentence:

"In terms of quantum theory, the energy of an electron is quantized".

I know that quanta is essentially packets of energy. I thought that when the energy of an electron is quantized, I figured that the energy is made into bundles of....energy? How does that work?

Also please help out with quantum theory, perhaps this may help me more:

The quantum theory proposes that "energy emitted as electromagnetic radiation from matter comes in discrete bundles called quanta". Ok, so whenever energy is emitted from matter as electromagnetic radiation, it comes in discrete bundles called quanta, right? Also what else can it be emitted as?

Edit: wait...so electron is matter and that releases electromagnetic radiation therefore it is quantized???!!

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[Isoprop]

When we say that energy is quantized, it means that energy emitted from an atom can only exist in very specific quantities. Because the energy has only specific values, packets of energy are called a quanta.

Here's a hypothetical analogy. Imagine a ladder standing against a wall. Now imagine a mouse on a step of the ladder. This is a special mouse which can instantly teleport to any rung on the ladder but otherwise can't move. The mouse can only exist in very specific heights because he can't exist between two steps. Therefore, the mouse can only have specific gravitational potential energies.

This is how an atom is set up. Electrons exist on specific energy levels and cannot exist in between them. When an electron moves to another energy level, it must release or absorb very specific amounts of energy. This is what quantized means: the amount of energy absorbed or released can only be specific quantities called quanta.

 

[ChemEngSoonMD]

I am a little counfused. Is quanta the same thing as the "quantized" in the phrase? Here is the sentence:

"In terms of quantum theory, the energy of an electron is quantized".

I know that quanta is essentially packets of energy. I thought that when the energy of an electron is quantized, I figured that the energy is made into bundles of....energy? How does that work?

Also please help out with quantum theory, perhaps this may help me more:

The quantum theory proposes that "energy emitted as electromagnetic radiation from matter comes in discrete bundles called quanta". Ok, so whenever energy is emitted from matter as electromagnetic radiation, it comes in discrete bundles called quanta, right? Also what else can it be emitted as?

Edit: wait...so electron is matter and that releases electromagnetic radiation therefore it is quantized???!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum

Wikipedia before you post.



Quantum = stair steps
Continuous = ramp

You can be at any height on a ramp, but on stairs, you are either on one step or another, you can't be on half a step unless you are Dhalsim from street fighter.

 

[zmatrix]

The quantum theory proposes that "energy emitted as electromagnetic radiation from matter comes in discrete bundles called quanta". Ok, so whenever energy is emitted from matter as electromagnetic radiation, it comes in discrete bundles called quanta, right? Also what else can it be emitted as?

All atomic or molecular electron orbitals have quantized (set) energy levels.

So when an electron moves from an orbital of higher energy to an orbital of lower energy, the energy emitted as em radiation is equal to the drop in energy of the electron. (Vice versa for when em radiation is absorbed and an electron moves from a lower energy level to a higher one)

Since the orbitals have quantized energy levels, then the energy difference between any two orbitals must be quantized as well.

 

[Haslaraga]

thanks for your help, also to the 2nd poster: I did wiki it before i posted