Given the formula of 5.00mL ampule of a 0.100 M naphthalene solution in hexane triggered by a flash of light, the naphthalene molecules emit 8.27% of photons.
What is a photon?
Photons are tiny quantum particles that make up light and serve as electromagnetic radiation’s fundamental unit. Photons display wave-particle duality, which means they alternate between acting as waves and microscopic particles. All other subatomic particles share this property. Due to their lack of mass, photons may move in a vacuum at the speed of light and over an infinitely long distance.
How do you calculate the energy of a photon?
There are two methods for calculating a photon’s energy:
If we are aware of the photon’s frequency, we can utilize Max Planck’s equation, which shows as E = h f.
On the other hand, the formula E = h c λ can be used to determine the photon’s energy if we already know the wavelength.
Legend:
E = energy of a photon
h = the Planck constant
c = the speed of light
λ = the wavelength of a photon
f = the frequency of a photon
You may also refer to this photon energy calculator.
How is the energy of a photon related to its frequency?
The frequency of the photon determines its energy (how fast the electric field and magnetic field move). The energy of the photon increases with frequency.
In a vacuum, light travels at a constant speed. This means that higher energy (high frequency) photons, such as X-rays and gamma rays, move at the same speed as lower energy (low frequency) photons. A photon’s wavelength decreases with increasing frequency and increases with decreasing frequency.
What is the relationship between the wavelength of light and the quantity of energy per photon?
Energy content is inversely correlated with wavelength because it is directly proportional to the electromagnetic frequency of the photon. The energy of a photon increases with its frequency. In other words, the energy of a photon decreases with increasing wavelength.
What happens when a photon of light hits a pigment molecule?
Proteins and pigments are arranged into complexes called photosystems. Light-harvesting complexes in each photosystem comprise proteins, 300 to 400 chlorophylls, and other pigments. A pigment is raised to an excited state when it absorbs a photon, which means one of its electrons is moved to a higher-energy orbital. In a process known as resonance energy transfer, when one of these pigments is activated by light, it transfers energy to a neighboring pigment through direct electromagnetic interactions.
What happens when an electron absorbs a photon?
When a photon of light hits an electron, the electron absorbs the energy quanta the photon was carrying and shifts to a higher energy state.
Imagine the electron is traveling more quickly to get a sense of this higher energy state. The electron cannot stay at the same energy level after that. As a result, from the ground state, that electron will go to a higher energy level. Thus, the energy transition should occur from a lower to a higher energy level.
Which transition in a hydrogen atom would emit the photon of the greatest frequency?
Due to the biggest amount of energy required in this transition, the hydrogen atom’s transition from n=2 to n=1 produces a photon with the highest frequency. It should be noted that more energy is absorbed/emitted when the transition between energy levels is bigger. As a result, the bigger energy changes are linked to higher frequency photons.