What happens if an atom absorbs a photon of energy higher than first excited state but lower than second excited state? [duplicate]

Question

This question already has an answer here:

• Specific electron energy gap values $E_{i+1}-E_i$ vs. photons with arbitrary energy $\hbar \omega$ 1 answer

Since the energy levels of atoms are quantized, I was wondering what happens if an electron is hit by a photon whose energy is higher than electron's first excited state but lower than second excited state. Does it excite to the first excited state? If yes, what happens to the remaining energy?

Answer 1

Let the electron ground state have energy $E_g$, let the first excited state have energy $E_1$, and let the second excited state have energy $E_2$.

Let the energy of the photon be given by $E_p = hf$.

Now it isn't the energy of the exited states that is important in transitions, but the energy differences between states.

So instead I'll assume you mean the following condition: $(E_1 - E_g) < hf < (E_2 - E_g)$.

Now as the atom absorbs $hf$, it causes the electron to transition to the first excited state. There is therefore excess energy of $hf - (E_1 - E_g)$. This excess energy is either converted to kinetic energy in the atom, or is reflected as a new photon with lower frequency and energy $E' = hf'$.