I'm not an expert in physics, but I was reading the "Dancing Wu Li Masters" which discusses quantum physics....
I have a question about the quantum leap of electrons from one orbit (or state) to another.
To quote an explanation off the web...
The "quantum". When the electron makes a quantum leap, it suddenlychanges not only its orbit, but also its energy. In doing that, it Emits a burst of light. Technically speaking, it emists a packet of electromagnetic Waves. This packet, this burst, is called a "quantum." The quantum of light is called a photon.
OK....so the electron emits a quantum packet of energy (a photon) when it makes a quantum leap to a lower orbit, or absorbs it when it makes a leap to a higher orbit (or a higher state of energy).
My question is this : if the electron is emitting/absorbing a quantum packet of energy as it moves from orbit to orbit.
This would seem to imply that the electron is not "moving" in the traditional sense, like a bowling bowl at the top of a hill, rolling down to the bottom.
It would seem to imply that it is disappearing from one orbit and reappearing elsewhere in another orbit, if it were transitioning like a bowling bowl at the top of a hill to the bottom that would imply that the energy was also transitioning in a continuous (non-quantum) way as well, but this does not happen with the energy released/absorbed.
It is released/absorbed in packets.....thus the movement of the electron is also quantumized.....which would mean it doesn't "move" in a continuous manner from orbit to orbit but disappears from one orbit and re-appears in another orbit.
Is this correct?
In other words, it is not like when a satellite in a higher orbit dropping down (in a continious fashion) to a lower orbit, but it's more like a space station blinking out of a higher orbit into a lower orbit.
