Energy Levels
(From Wikipedia)
This article is about orbital
(electron) energy levels, see chemical potential on compounds' energy levels
A quantum mechanical system can only be in certain
states, so that only certain energy levels are possible. The term energy level
is most commonly used in reference to the electron configuration in atoms or
molecules. In other words, the energy spectrum can be quantized (see continuous
spectrum for the more general case).
As with classical potentials, the potential energy
is usually set to zero at infinity, leading to a negative potential energy for
bound electron states.
Energy levels are said to be degenerate, if
the same energy level is obtained by more than one quantum mechanical state.
They are then called degenerate energy levels.