Page "Emission spectrum" Paragraph 22

There are many ways in which atoms can be brought to an excited state.

Interaction with electromagnetic radiation is used in fluorescence spectroscopy, protons or other heavier particles in Particle-Induced X-ray Emission and electrons or X-ray photons in Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy or X-ray fluorescence.

The simplest method is to heat the sample to a high temperature, after which the excitations are produced by collisions between the sample atoms.

This method is used in flame emission spectroscopy, and it was also the method used by Anders Jonas Ångström when he discovered the phenomenon of discrete emission lines in 1850s.