Photoinduced charge separation

Photoinduced charge separation is the process of an electron in an atom or molecule, being excited to a higher energy level by the absorption of a photon and then leaving the atom or molecule to a nearby electron acceptor. Photoinduced charge separation is the process of an electron in an atom or molecule, being excited to a higher energy level by the absorption of a photon and then leaving the atom or molecule to a nearby electron acceptor. An atom consists of a positively charged nucleus orbited by electrons. The nucleus consists of uncharged neutrons and positively charged protons. Electrons are negatively charged. In the early part of the twentieth century Ernest Rutherford suggested that the electrons orbited the dense central nucleus in a manner analogous to planets orbiting the sun. The centripetal force required to keep the electrons in orbit was provided by the Coulomb force of the protons in the nucleus acting upon the electrons; just like the gravitational force of the sun acting on a planet provides the centripetal force necessary to keep the planet in orbit. This model, although appealing, doesn't hold true in the real world. Synchrotron radiation would cause the orbiting electron to lose orbital energy and spiral inward since the vector quantity of acceleration of the particle multiplied by its mass (the value of the force required to keep the electron in circular motion) would be less than the electrical force the proton applied to the electron.