Reply To: Chemistry/Biology/Physics/Biochemistry/Math

if i understand correctly it means that energy does not behave like a wave but rather like a particle. that particle of energy contains a certain amount of energy. when absorbed by an electron the electron is excited and jumps a shell when the electron goes back to its stable state it releases a photon this is the light that we see.according to the amount of energy that the electron absorb the light of the photon will differ.

Yup, that’s absolutely correct! The amount of energy released is dependent on what shell the electron is jumping back to (say, from n=3 to n=1). That energy is related to the frequency of light by the following equation:

E=hf or E=hc/lambda

where “e” is the energy we are concerned with, “h” is the Planck constant, “c” is the speed of light (approximately 3×10^8 m/s in a vacuum), and “lambda” (the Greek letter) stands for the wavelength of that electromagenetic energy. If the wavelength is 300-800 nm in length, we are able to see it.

Interesting tidbit: as you can see from the second equation, there is an inverse relationship with lambda and the energy of light. That’s why ultraviolet light (lower wavelength than 300 nm) has much higher energy than regular light, and potential damaging factor to cells – particularly DNA and its sythesis/replication process.