Water has no excited states

Scientific tidbit for the day: “Water has no excited states.” If you hit a water molecule with enough energy to kick an electron up into a higher orbital, it will either break apart into H⁺ and OH⁻, or into H⋅ and HO⋅ free radicals. (This applies only to liquid water, where the H⁺ can be instantly hydrated; steam and ice may behave differently.)