Name: measuring light with wavelength and frequency
Uploaded: 2020-09-03T13:38:27.000Z
Duration: 2 min 12 s
Channel: JoVE

K12 Standards

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills

High School

Chemistry and Physics

IPC.7

IPC.7.E

The Wave Nature of Light

The light from the sun, the microwaves used to cook food, and the radio waves emitted by wi-fi routers are all examples of electromagnetic radiation.

Electromagnetic radiation is the transmission of the energy that comes from the motion of electrically charged particles.

This movement creates perpendicular oscillating electric and magnetic fields propagating through space in the form of waves. 

Like all waves, electromagnetic waves are characterized by their amplitude, wavelength, and frequency.

The peak amplitude is the distance from the midline to the peak or trough of a wave. It determines the intensity of the wave. For example, the amplitude of visible light is related to its brightness; the larger the amplitude, the brighter, or more intense, the light. 

The wavelength is the distance between identical points on adjacent waves, such as successive peaks or troughs; it is symbolized by the Greek letter lambda. Electromagnetic radiation can be categorized by wavelength, which can range from kilometers to picometers.

For example, the wavelength range of visible light is about 400 to 750 nanometers, which correspond to violet and red light, respectively.

The frequency, which is symbolized by the Greek letter nu, is the number of wave cycles that pass through a reference point in one second and is measured in hertz, or cycles per second. The wavelength is the width of one cycle.

The speed of a wave is the product of its frequency and wavelength. Hence, the frequency of a wave is directly proportional to the speed at which the wave is traveling. However, it is inversely proportional to the wavelength of the wave. 

Therefore, waves with long wavelengths, such as radio waves, have low frequencies. These waves are less energetic than waves with high frequencies and short wavelengths, such as gamma rays.

the wave nature of light

The nature of light has been a subject of inquiry since antiquity. In the seventeenth century, Isaac Newton performed experiments with lenses and prisms and was able to demonstrate that white light consists of the individual colors of the rainbow combined together. Newton explained his optics findings in terms of a "corpuscular" view of light, in which light was composed of streams of extremely tiny particles traveling at high speeds according to Newton's laws of motion. 

Others in the seventeenth century, such as Christiaan Huygens, had shown that optical phenomena such as reflection and refraction could be equally well explained in terms of light as waves traveling at high speed through a medium called "luminiferous aether" that was thought to permeate all space. Early in the nineteenth century, Thomas Young demonstrated that light passing through narrow, closely spaced slits produced interference patterns that could not be explained in terms of Newtonian particles but could be easily explained in terms of waves. Later in the nineteenth century, after James Clerk Maxwell developed his theory of electromagnetic radiation and showed that light was the visible part of a vast spectrum of electromagnetic waves, the particle view of light became thoroughly discredited. 

By the end of the nineteenth century, scientists viewed the physical universe as roughly comprising two separate domains: matter composed of particles moving according to Newton's laws of motion, and electromagnetic radiation consisting of waves governed by Maxwell's equations. Today, these domains are referred to as classical mechanics and classical electrodynamics (or classical electromagnetism). Although there were a few physical phenomena that could not be explained within this framework, scientists at that time were so confident of the overall soundness of this framework that they viewed these aberrations as puzzling paradoxes that would ultimately be resolved somehow within this framework. These paradoxes led to a contemporary framework that intimately connects particles and waves at a fundamental level called wave-particle duality, which has superseded the classical view.

Visible light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation play important roles in chemistry since they can be used to infer the energies of electrons within atoms and molecules. Much of modern technology is based on electromagnetic radiation. For example, radio waves from a mobile phone, X-rays used by dentists, the energy used to cook food in your microwave, the radiant heat from red-hot objects, and the light from your television screen are forms of electromagnetic radiation that all exhibit wavelike behavior.

<h4>Waves</h4>

A wave is an oscillation or periodic movement that can transport energy from one point in space to another. Common examples of waves are all around us. Shaking the end of a rope transfers energy from your hand to the other end of the rope, dropping a pebble into a pond causes waves to ripple outward along the water's surface, and the expansion of air that accompanies a lightning strike generates sound waves (thunder) that can travel outward for several miles. In each of these cases, kinetic energy is transferred through matter (the rope, water, or air) while the matter remains essentially in place. 

Waves need not be restricted to travel through matter. As Maxwell showed, electromagnetic waves consist of an electric field oscillating in step with a perpendicular magnetic field, both of which are perpendicular to the direction of travel. These waves can travel through a vacuum at a constant speed of 2.998 &#215; 108 m/s, the speed of light (denoted by c).

All waves, including forms of electromagnetic radiation, are characterized by a wavelength (denoted by &#955;, the lowercase Greek letter lambda), a frequency (denoted by &#957;, the lowercase Greek letter nu), and an amplitude. 

The wavelength is the distance between two consecutive peaks or troughs in a wave (measured in meters in the SI system). Electromagnetic waves have wavelengths that fall within an enormous range-wavelengths of kilometers (103 m) to picometers (10&#8722;12 m) have been observed. The frequency is the number of wave cycles that pass a specified point in space in a specified amount of time (in the SI system, this is measured in seconds). A cycle corresponds to one complete wavelength. The unit for frequency, expressed as cycles per second [s&#8722;1], is the hertz (Hz). Common multiples of this unit are megahertz (1 MHz = 1 &#215; 106 Hz) and gigahertz (1 GHz = 1 &#215; 109 Hz). 

The amplitude corresponds to the magnitude of the wave's displacement, and this corresponds to one-half the height between the peaks and troughs. The amplitude is related to the intensity of the wave, which for light is the brightness, and for sound is the loudness. The product of a wave's wavelength (&#955;) and its frequency (&#957;), &#955;&#957;, is the speed of the wave. Thus, for electromagnetic radiation in a vacuum, speed is equal to the fundamental constant, c:

<img alt="Speed of light equation c=2.998&#215;10^8 m/s=&#955;&#957;; physics, light wavelength, frequency." src="/files/core/CDNSource/lessons/974/974_Equations-01.png" style="height: 40px;" data-altupdatedat="1761830439000" data-alt="Eq1" />

Wavelength and frequency are inversely proportional: As the wavelength increases, the frequency decreases. The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all types of electromagnetic radiation. 

This text is adapted from <a href="https://openstax.org/books/chemistry-2e/pages/6-1-electromagnetic-energy">Openstax, Chemistry 2e, Section 6.1: Electromagnetic Energy.</a>

The nature of light has been a subject of inquiry since antiquity. In the seventeenth century, Isaac Newton performed experiments with lenses and prisms ...

Education

JoVE Core

Chemistry

Electronic Structure of Atoms

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

measuring light with wavelength and frequency

Light can be described as an electromagnetic wave, and its behavior helps explain many patterns seen in science. For centuries, scientists have tried to understand light. Newton used lenses and prisms to show that white light is made of the colors of the rainbow mixed together. He explained light as tiny particles moving at high speed.

Other scientists, including Christiaan Huygens, showed that reflection and refraction could also be explained by treating light as a wave. At the time, people imagined these waves traveling through a medium called luminiferous aether, which was thought to fill all space. In the early 1800s, Thomas Young showed that light passing through two narrow slits makes an interference pattern. That result fit the wave model much better than the particle model.

James Clerk Maxwell later developed electromagnetic theory and showed that visible light is part of a much larger spectrum of electromagnetic waves. By the end of the nineteenth century, many scientists accepted a split view of the physical world. Matter was described as particles, while electromagnetic radiation was described as waves. These ideas are now called classical mechanics and classical electrodynamics, or classical electromagnetism.

Some experimental results did not fit that classical picture. Scientists first saw them as strange puzzles that might still be solved within the old framework. Those puzzles eventually led to wave-particle duality, a modern idea that links waves and particles at a basic level. This idea replaced the older view.

Electromagnetic radiation matters in chemistry because it can help reveal the energies of electrons in atoms and molecules. It also powers many technologies. Radio waves from a mobile phone, X-rays used by dentists, microwave energy used to cook food, radiant heat from red-hot objects, and the light from a television screen are all forms of electromagnetic radiation. Each of these shows wavelike behavior.

A wave is an oscillation, or repeating motion, that carries energy from one place to another. Rope waves, ripples on water after a pebble falls in, and sound waves from thunder are common examples. In these cases, energy moves through the rope, water, or air while the material itself stays mostly in place. Waves do not have to travel through matter, because electromagnetic waves can move through empty space.

Maxwell showed that electromagnetic waves contain an electric field and a magnetic field that oscillate together. These fields are perpendicular to each other and to the direction the wave travels. In a vacuum, electromagnetic waves move at 2.998 × 10^8 m/s, which is the speed of light, c. Like all waves, they are described by wavelength, frequency, and amplitude.

Wavelength is the distance between two peaks or two troughs. Frequency is the number of wave cycles that pass a point in a given time. Amplitude is the size of the wave’s displacement, which is half the height between a peak and a trough. Amplitude is related to intensity, so for light it affects brightness, and for sound it affects loudness. Wavelength and frequency are linked by the equation λν = speed, so in a vacuum c = λν. As wavelength increases, frequency decreases. Electromagnetic waves span a huge range, from kilometers to picometers, and the full set is called the electromagnetic spectrum.

Measuring Light with Wavelength and Frequency

measuring-light-with-wavelength-and-frequency

Light can be described as an electromagnetic wave, and its behavior helps explain many patterns seen in science. For centuries, scientists have tried to understand light. Newton used lenses and prisms to show that white light is made of the colors of the rainbow mixed together. He explained light as tiny particles moving at high speed. Other scientists, including Christiaan Huygens, showed that reflection and refraction could also be explained by treating light as a wave. At the time, people...

the electromagnetic spectrum

Electromagnetic Waves: Uses Across the Spectrum

The electromagnetic spectrum includes all electromagnetic radiation arranged by frequency and wavelength. Visible light is only a small part of it, and each color of visible light has its own frequency and wavelength. Different parts of the spectrum also use different units. Radio waves are usually measured in MHz, while the visible range is often measured in nm or angstroms. The spectrum is organized from radio waves to gamma rays as frequency increases and wavelength decreases. Radio waves...

interference and diffraction

Wave Patterns from Light and Slits

Light can form wave patterns through interference and diffraction. When two electromagnetic waves meet with their peaks and troughs lined up, they combine into a larger wave. This is constructive interference, and the waves are in phase. When a peak of one wave meets a trough of the other, the waves reduce each other. This is destructive interference, and the result has a much lower amplitude. Diffraction is another wave behavior. When light passes through a slit that is about the same size as...

photoelectric effect

Why Light Ejects Electrons from Metals

Light can eject electrons from a metal surface when it has the right frequency. This process is called the photoelectric effect. Each metal has its own threshold frequency, which is the minimum light frequency needed to free electrons. Light below the threshold frequency cannot cause emission, even if it is very bright. When the light frequency is above the threshold, electrons are ejected. In that case, the number of electrons released is directly proportional to the intensity, or brightness,...

the bohr model

Bohr’s Quantized Atomic Orbits

Bohr’s quantized atomic orbits explain why hydrogen atoms can stay stable. Early in the twentieth century, Ernest Rutherford and his colleagues described atoms as tiny dense nuclei with lighter electrons moving around them. This picture was called the planetary model because it compared the atom to a miniature solar system, with electrons orbiting the nucleus like planets around the sun. The simplest atom is hydrogen. It has one proton in the nucleus and one electron moving around it. In the...

emission spectra

Line Spectra from Heated Gases

Line spectra are produced when heated gases give off light at specific wavelengths. In contrast, hot solids, liquids, or condensed gases radiate excess energy as a continuous spectrum. That spectrum contains an unbroken range of wavelengths. A gas at low partial pressure can produce a line spectrum when it is excited by an electric current or heated. Fluorescent light bulbs and neon signs work in this way. Each element has its own characteristic set of lines, and molecules can also produce...

the de broglie wavelength

Electron Waves and Standing Orbits

Electron waves and standing orbits explain how tiny particles can behave like waves. Large objects in the macroscopic world, like a billiard ball on a table, follow classical physics. A ball keeps moving in a straight line unless it hits another ball or a force such as friction acts on it. It also has a well-defined position, velocity, and momentum, where momentum is mass times velocity. Waves behave differently from macroscopic particles. When waves interact, they can form interference...

the uncertainty principle

Electron Position and Momentum Limits

Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle sets a limit on how precisely we can know an electron’s position and momentum at the same time. Momentum is the motion of a particle, and the two measurements affect each other. If the momentum is known more accurately, the position becomes less certain, and the reverse is also true. Heisenberg described this limit with an equation that uses Planck’s constant. The equation shows the smallest possible uncertainty for position and momentum together. It explains...

the quantum-mechanical model of an atom

Electron Orbitals in Quantum Mechanics

Quantum mechanics explains how electrons behave in atoms using waves and probability. Erwin Schrödinger built on de Broglie’s idea that an electron in hydrogen could act like a circular standing wave instead of moving in fixed circular paths. He then derived the Schrödinger equation, which became a major step in modern atomic theory. When Schrödinger applied his equation to hydrogen-like atoms, it matched Bohr’s energy expression and the Rydberg formula for hydrogen spectra. He described...

quantum numbers

Electron Orbitals and Spin

Electron orbitals are described by quantum numbers that show where an electron is most likely to be found around the nucleus. These numbers come from the quantum mechanical model, which is based on solutions of the Schrödinger equation. They also help explain why electron energy comes in set values instead of changing smoothly. The principal quantum number, n, labels the energy level. It can be 1, 2, 3, and so on, and higher n values usually mean higher electron energy. This number also tells...

atomic orbitals

Electron Regions in Atomic Orbitals

Electron regions in atomic orbitals show where an electron is most likely to be found in an atom. These three-dimensional regions are often drawn as boundary surfaces around the densest part of the cloud. The shape of an orbital depends on the angular momentum quantum number, l. This value can range from 0 to n - 1, where n is the principal quantum number. For n = 1, only l = 0 is allowed. For n = 2, both l = 0 and l = 1 are allowed. Orbitals with the same value of l form a subshell. The l =...

the pauli exclusion principle

Electron Spin and Orbital Pairing

Electron spin and orbital pairing explain why only two electrons can fit in one atomic orbital. Electron configuration describes how electrons are arranged in an atom’s orbitals. It is written with three parts: the principal quantum number, n, the orbital type, or subshell, and a superscript that shows how many electrons are in that subshell. For example, 2p4 means four electrons in a p subshell with n = 2, and 3d8 means eight electrons in a d subshell with n = 3. The three quantum numbers...

the energies of atomic orbitals

Shielding and Orbital Penetration

Shielding and orbital penetration help explain why electrons in an atom have different energies. Electrons are attracted to the positive nucleus, but they also repel one another in atoms with more than one electron. The strength of these forces depends on the charge and the distance between the particles. Opposite charges attract, like charges repel, and the force gets weaker as the particles move farther apart. An electron that stays closer to the nucleus is held more tightly. That means...

the aufbau principle and hund's rule

Electron Filling Order in Atomic Orbitals

Electron filling order in atomic orbitals follows the aufbau principle and Hund's rule. To write an electron configuration, we build atoms in order of atomic number. Starting with hydrogen and moving across the periods of the periodic table, one proton is added to the nucleus and one electron is placed into the correct subshell. This process describes the ground-state electron configurations of the elements. The aufbau principle comes from the German word aufbau, which means "to build up." It...

electron configuration of multielectron atoms

electron-configuration-of-multielectron-atoms

Valence Electrons and Noble Gas Shorthand

Valence electrons and noble gas shorthand help show how electrons are arranged in multielectron atoms. Sodium, the alkali metal with atomic number 11, has one more electron than neon. That extra electron goes into the lowest-energy subshell available, the 3s orbital, so sodium has the configuration 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s1. Electrons in the outermost shell, where n is highest, are called valence electrons. Electrons in the inner shells are called core electrons. Because core electrons often match a...

key terms and concepts

Explore light as an electromagnetic wave, including wavelength, frequency, amplitude, the speed of light, and examples from the electromagnetic spectrum.

Measuring Light with Wavelength and Frequency | JoVE K12

chemistry

JoVE Core Chemistry brings general chemistry concepts to life using concise and easy-to-understand animated video lessons. Plus, in the scientist-in-action videos, we demonstrate classical and original research experiments performed in today's laboratories worldwide.

Pennsylvania State Academic Standards

9-12

Earth and Space Science

Earth's Systems

3.3.9-12.H

Space Systems

3.3.9-12.B

Weather and Climate

3.3.9-12.E

Physical Science

Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation

3.2.9-12.X

Louisiana Student Standards for Science

Earth Science

Earth’s Place In The Universe

HS-ESS1-1

HS-ESS1-2

Earth’s Systems

HS-ESS2-4

Energy

HS-PS3-3

ohios-learning-standards-and-model-curriculum

Ohio’s Learning Standards and Model Curriculum

Physics

Waves

Light phenomena

Tennessee Academic Standards

waves-and-their-applications-in-technologies-for-information-transfer

Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer

PHYS.PS4.7

CHEM1.PS4.1

Virginia  Standards of Learning

HIgh School

ES.2

ES.2.a

Arizona Science Standards

HS+C.P1

HS+C.P1U1.2

CHEM.6

CHEM.6.C

Alabama Course of Study Science

Matter and Its Interactions

9-12.C.1.1.c

Earth's Place in the Universe

9-12.ESS.1.2

9-12.ESS.1.2.a

9-12.ESS.1.2.b

Next Generation Science Standards

HS-PS4-1

HS-PS4-3

Earth’s Place in the Universe

Florida Department of Education

SC.912.E.5

SC.912.E.5.8

SC.912.P.8

SC.912.P.8.3

SC.912.P.12

SC.912.P.12.7

PHYS.9

PHYS.9.A

PHYS.9.C

PHYS.9.D

south-carolina-college-and-career-ready-science-standards

South Carolina College and Career Ready Science Standards

C-PS4-4

P-PS3-3

P-PS4-1

new-york-state-science-learning-standards

New York State Science Learning Standards

HS. Chemical Reactions

HS-PS1-7.

HS. Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation

HS-PS4-3.

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Covalent Bonding and Lewis Structures

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Electronegativity

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	Determine the ...

Bond Energies and Bond Lengths

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Model basic atomic structure and relate an element's atomic structure to its bonding, reactivity, and placement on the Periodic Table.

IPC.7.A

physical-and-chemical-properties-of-matter

Physical and Chemical Properties of Matter

The characteristics that enable us to distinguish one substance from another are called properties.

Physical Properties of Matter

A physical property is ...

atomic-radii-and-effective-nuclear-charge

Atomic Radii and Effective Nuclear Charge

The elements in groups of the periodic table exhibit similar chemical behavior. This similarity occurs because the members of a group have the same number ...

Ionic Radii

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Ionization Energy

The amount of energy required to remove the most loosely bound electron from a gaseous atom in its ground state is called its first ionization energy ...

Electron Affinity

The electron affinity (EA) is the energy change for adding an electron to a gaseous atom to form an anion (negative ion).



This process can be either ...

Alkali Metals

Group 1 elements are soft and shiny metallic solids. They are malleable, ductile, and good conductors of heat and electricity. The melting points of the ...

Halogens

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Noble Gases


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Use patterns within the Periodic Table to predict the relative physical and chemical properties of elements.

IPC.7.B

Science concepts. The student knows that relationships exist between the structure and properties of matter. The student is expected to:

Measuring Light with Wavelength and Frequency

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