·In discussing absorption we have been concerned entirely with the
excitation of a molecule from its ground state to a higher energy level and have
given no consideration to the subsequent fate of the excited molecule.
· In many cases the sequel is not very interesting; the energy is
transferred as heat to the surroundings.
· In some cases light is emitted by the sample either as fluorescence or
phosphorescence.
· We will discuss the general characteristics of emission and ignore the
exceptions.