Making sense of the color of copper

[logy]

I have a question that has been troubling me for some time now.

 

Copper is one of the only metals that does not have a slivery color and the reason behind that is that it's 3d orbital has a band emergy that is very close to it's 4s. it's electron configuration is 3d10 4s1, which is unique as lighter elements will fill their s orbital before they fill the d orbital, and that is due to the fact that once an element is heavy enough, it's s orbital has a lower band energy then the d orbital thats 'supposed' to come after it.

 

the color of copper is a result of the fact that due to the small gap in energy between the 3d and the 4s orbital. it will absorbs blue light. but I’m puzzled...

 

if the stable electron configuration is 3d10 4s1, that means that if an electron where to jump from the 3d orbital to the 4s orbital, it would loose energy and emit a photon rather then gain energy and absorb a photon, so how come does it absorb blue light which corresponds to the energy gap between the 3d and the 4s orbital :shrug:

 

If anyone can shed light on this, I will be immensely grateful :)