system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
If an electron in an atom emits a photon but no lower energy orbital is available for it to drop to, does the electron leave the atom?

I understand that if an electron absorbs a photon it can be excited to a higher orbital and the only way to drop back down is to emit a photon. My question asks if an electron is already at its lowest possible orbital and emits a photon, does the electron simply get knocked from the atom?

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Also would an electron that is in a higher orbital emit a photon naturally without any outside excitation in order to drop down and fill the lower orbitals? Or can photons only be emitted by outside excitation?
gpt
The electron only emits a photon _because_ there is a lower energy state available.

But more importantly, to make the electron "leave the atom" you have to increase it's energy, quite the opposite of emitting a photon.