The electronic transitions involved in the processes of (1) absorption, (2) excitation, (3) emission, (4) trapping, and (5) photoconductivity, at room temperature, have been measured for zinc sulfide phosphors, without added impurity, and with silver, copper, and manganese impurity.Three types of excitation transitions are found: (1) from the filled band to the conduction band, (2) from an impurity level above the filled band to the conduction band, and (3) from a ground-state level to an excited-state level of an impurity ion. The first two transitions result in trapping and photoconductivity; the third does not. Emission transitions occur from a level below the bottom of the conduction band to a level above the filled band.The same five major trap depths are common to all zinc sulfide phosphors regardless of the nature of the impurity. Optical trap emptying by visible light, like thermal trap emptying, involves a process of stimulation in which trapped electrons are raised into the conduction band before returning to luminescence centers to produce emission.A tentative energy-level diagram is constructed from the data obtained.