Why are only certain colors absorbed by and emitted from an atom?

The way I would explain it is quite difficult to understand, so this is what Google says. "The wavelength (or equivalently, frequency) of the photon is determined by the difference in energy between the two states. These emitted photons form the element's spectrum. The fact that only certain colors appear in an element's atomic emission spectrum means that only certain frequencies of light are emitted." I hope this helped.