ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Franck–Hertz experiment

Okay kiddo, so imagine you have a ball and you want to see how it bounces. But instead of a ball, scientists use tiny particles called electrons.

In the franck-hertz experiment, scientists put these electrons into a little box with some gas. And they send a little bit of electric energy into the box to give the electrons some energy too.

Now, here's where it gets cool. The electrons bump into the gas particles in the box, and that makes them give off energy. Think about how you feel when you bump into something – it's kind of like that.

But what's really neat is that the electrons give off the energy in specific amounts, like steps on a ladder. Scientists can measure these steps, and they call it the energy levels of the electrons.

So the franck-hertz experiment helps scientists learn about how electrons behave and how they give off energy. It's like doing an experiment to learn how the ball bounces, but with tiny particles instead!