# If two electrons move up to a higher energy level in an atom, is it considered excited?

In Germanium, if two electrons go from 1s go to 4p is it in its excited state?

http://physics.nist.gov/PhysRefData/Handbook/Tables/germaniumtable5.htm Energy levels of a neutral germanium atom https://www.webelements.com/germanium/orbital_properties.html
Middle, electron binding energies for germanium

It will certainly be in one of its excited states, yes, probably followed by an Auger cascade.

Label   Orbital   eV
K       1s       11103
L I     2s       1414.6
L II    2p1/2    1248.1
L III   2p3/2    1217
M I     3s       180.1
M II    3p1/2    124.9
M III   3p3/2    120.8
M IV    3d3/2    29.8
M V     3d5/2    29.2


• i thought an atom can only become excited when only ONE electron moves to a higher energy level? so why does it get excited when two electrons move up? – Jonie Mar 21 '14 at 1:53
• "Excited" means "higher energy state". Everything higher than the ground state is therefore considered excited. – tschoppi Mar 21 '14 at 12:29
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rydberg_atom "A Rydberg atom is an excited atom with one or more electrons that have a very high principal quantum number," – Uncle Al Mar 21 '14 at 22:52
• @Jonie: People commonly refer to such states as "doubly excited". – Aesin Jun 19 '14 at 0:39