Question

Explain in brief metastable state.

Answer 1

Metastable state is an excited state of an atom or other system with a longer lifetime than the other excited states. However, it has a shorter lifetime than the stable ground state. Atoms in the metastable state remain excited for a considerable time in the order of 10^-6 to 10^-3. During metastable state, all the parameters associated with state hold stationary values. A large number of excited atoms are accumulated in the metastable state.