# How is an "instantaneous" change in orbitals by an electron reconciled with . . .

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-an-instantaneous-change-in-orbitals-by-an-electron-reconciled-with/578054>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 12, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-an-instantaneous-change-in-orbitals-by-an-electron-reconciled-with/578054 "2011-04-12T03:24:27Z")\
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**Author:** ![Ring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Ring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ring)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-an-instantaneous-change-in-orbitals-by-an-electron-reconciled-with/578054/14 "2011-04-13T02:14:31Z")

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From the “Ask a Particle Physicist” [thread](http://boardstest.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=544864&page=3).

> [@Ask the particle physicist](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-particle-physicist/522186/99):
>
> There isn’t really an oscillating dipole that sits and resonates for some time. If there were, then your intuition would be correct that the system would emit radiation continuously at the transition frequency. The transition, though, is instantaneous, at least on the relevant time scale of h/(E2-E1). (And on any time scale we’ve ever probed. Atomic transitions are just a type of particle decay, and all particle decays we’ve probe are consistent with being instantaneous… You’re in state 1. Then _bam!_, you’re in state 2.)

The relevant time scale is, I’m sure, the uncertainty principle.

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