# Does a single atom have color?  What about a subatomic particle?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-single-atom-have-color-what-about-a-subatomic-particle/425052>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 2, 2007, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-single-atom-have-color-what-about-a-subatomic-particle/425052 "2007-11-02T20:03:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-single-atom-have-color-what-about-a-subatomic-particle/425052/21 "2007-11-05T20:19:21Z")

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> [@](#):
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> How can a proton emit a photon (excited electrons) if it does not have an electron?

Light is not excited electrons. Light can be produced by excited electrons, but it can also be produced by excitations of anything that has a charge. And even when light is produced by electrons, the light itself still isn’t electrons: The electromagnetic field which is the light can travel far, far away from the electron. When we see light from the Andromeda Galaxy, we’re seeing photons which were emitted by some electron or another in that galaxy, but the electrons are still there, even though the photons made it all the way to us.

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