Franck–Condon principle
Okay, so let's imagine that you have two friends, Fred and Cindy. Fred is a singer and Cindy plays the guitar. They want to play a song together, but they live far away from each other. So, they send each other a video of their parts of the song they want to play.
Now, when Cindy gets Fred's video, she starts playing the guitar along with it. But the thing is, Fred's voice is recorded and it's not live, so Cindy needs to make sure she's playing her guitar at the right time to match Fred's voice.
This is kind of like what happens in chemistry when molecules need to vibrate together in order to react with each other. But instead of voices and guitars, we have electrons and atoms.
The Franck-Condon principle basically says that when molecules are excited, their electrons move to higher energy levels. But before they can react with other molecules, they need to settle back down into their original positions. And just like Cindy needed to make sure she was playing at the right time with Fred's voice, the electrons in the molecule need to make sure they're vibrating at the right frequency to match the atoms they're reacting with.
So, in summary, the Franck-Condon principle is a way of describing how electrons and atoms have to vibrate together at the right frequency in order to react with each other. It's kind of like making sure your guitar playing matches up with your friend's singing, but instead it's about making sure the electrons and atoms are grooving at the same frequency.
Now, when Cindy gets Fred's video, she starts playing the guitar along with it. But the thing is, Fred's voice is recorded and it's not live, so Cindy needs to make sure she's playing her guitar at the right time to match Fred's voice.
This is kind of like what happens in chemistry when molecules need to vibrate together in order to react with each other. But instead of voices and guitars, we have electrons and atoms.
The Franck-Condon principle basically says that when molecules are excited, their electrons move to higher energy levels. But before they can react with other molecules, they need to settle back down into their original positions. And just like Cindy needed to make sure she was playing at the right time with Fred's voice, the electrons in the molecule need to make sure they're vibrating at the right frequency to match the atoms they're reacting with.
So, in summary, the Franck-Condon principle is a way of describing how electrons and atoms have to vibrate together at the right frequency in order to react with each other. It's kind of like making sure your guitar playing matches up with your friend's singing, but instead it's about making sure the electrons and atoms are grooving at the same frequency.