Herbinator

Alright, thank you very much for your help.

Thank you, but I wasn't really talking about excitation. Take sodium choride for example. When a sodium atom and a chlorine atom combine, the sodium atom gains energy in order for an electron to be released. When this electron is transferred to the chlorine atom, the chlorine atom releases energy(electron affinity). I don't understand why the chlorine atom releases energy? I know it achieves a noble gas electron configuration (and this is most stable), but why does the chlorine atom release energy when the electron is added to it?

O.k. So when an electron is added to an atom, it releases energy (electron affinity), but why does this occur? Ionization energy makes sense to me because as the energy of an electron increases, it is able to escape the nuclear charge of the atom, and hence leaves the atom. When the reverse happens, energy is released. Why?

That makes sense. Then I guess my question really is why are atoms more stable when they have less energy.

Why does an atom tend to seek its lowest possible energy (atoms bond to achieve a lower energy state), and what does achieving lowest possible energy actually mean?