system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Via what mechanism do free electrons in metal produce thermal radiation?

Since they are free, electrons in metal don't have an orbital to return to. So how do they lose their excess energy? Is it via bremsstrahlung with collisions with other electrons or being stopped by metal ions at the surface? Or is there another mechanism that free electrons can use to de-excite and release light?
gpt
Metal atoms do have electron orbitals. However, since the potentials created by individual atoms in the metal overlap, an electronic band forms that essentially provide a continuum of allowed energy states for electrons in metals. As for mechanisms of losing excess energy, there are many possible methods including electron electron interaction and electron phonon interaction. Sorry this doesn’t completely answer your question!