Why can't you split an electron's energy?
Energy level
Why can't you split an electron's energy?
Imagine you're trying to split a perfectly balanced spinning top into smaller tops. You can't do it evenly; there's always something left over.
In the world of tiny particles, electrons can't just have any energy; they must fit into specific, discrete energy levels like steps on a ladder. The technical term for this is "quantization of energy levels."
Example
If you tried to split a spinning top's energy into smaller pieces, you'd find that it can't be divided evenly; there's always a remainder.
Remember this
Electrons can only exist at certain energy levels, not in between.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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