Doublet state

Okay kiddo, imagine you and your twin brother are playing hide and seek. You both hide in different spots, but when your sister comes to find you, she can't see either of you. That's because you both look exactly the same!

Now imagine that instead of you and your twin, we're talking about electrons. Electrons are teeny tiny particles that spin around the nucleus of an atom. Normally, electrons come in pairs, just like you and your twin. One electron in the pair spins clockwise, while the other electron spins counterclockwise.

But sometimes, something weird happens. One of the electrons gets super excited and jumps up to a higher energy level. When this happens, the two electrons can't spin around in opposite directions anymore, because one of them is moving too fast.

This is called a doublet state. In a doublet state, the two electrons spin in the same direction instead of opposite directions, just like if you and your twin both tried to hide in the same spot. And just like how your sister might not be able to see you and your twin when you're hiding in the same spot, scientists have a hard time seeing atoms in a doublet state because they look different than normal atoms.

But don't worry, even though doublet states are hard to see, they help scientists learn more about how atoms work and interact with each other!