to: explain how the photon theory of light accounts for atomic spectra; discuss why red light is used in photographic dark rooms; determine why you easily get sunburned in ultraviolet light but not in visible light; and explain how you see colors. The Photon Theory of Light
Atoms are composed
of electrons, protons, and neutrons. Inside an atom, electrons are located at specific energy levels, and they can move to higher energy level when given a certain amount of energy, for example through collisions with light. Light is composed of photons. Based on the photon theory of light, a photon is a discrete bundle of electromagnetic energy moving at the speed of light, has no rest mass but has momentum, and carries energy. This energy is given to an electron upon their collision, which causes it to move up to the next energy level. After about 10-8 s, it will go back to its original level and emit light in the form of photons. The emitted light has a certain wavelength that corresponds to different colors. It can be observed as a series of colored lines with black spaces in between. This is called atomic spectra. Each element has its unique set of spectral lines. The Photoelectric Effect
The photoelectric effect refers to
the ejection of electrons from a surface of a metal in response to light directed to the metal. Albert Einstein proposed that light consisted of individual photons, which interacted with the electrons in the surface of the metal. For each frequency or color of the incident light, each photon carried energy. Increasing intensity of light corresponded to increasing incident of photons while the energy of the photons remained the same. More electrons are ejected upon the increase in incident light. Increasing the frequency of light would increase the energy of the ejected electrons. The energy carried by a photon is directly proportional to its frequency. The arrangement of the visible spectrum of light shows that red color has the least frequency, which means it also has the least energy. Since photographers use light- sensitive photographic papers, red light would not overexpose and ruin the pictures during the developing process. Color Spectra Colors are not innate to objects. They give off light that appears as colors. Colors only exist in the human visual system and is determined by frequencies. When light reaches the eye, it falls into a receptor cell at the back of the eye or retina and gives signals to the brain, which interprets the image with colors. Ultraviolet Radiation
Different colors of light have photons of different energies.
Based on the frequency and wavelength in a visible light, red has low frequency and long wavelength, which means that it contains less energy. Blue, on the other hand, has high frequency and short wavelength, which means it contains more energy. Beyond the visible light, the ultraviolet light has greater frequency and shorter wavelength, which means it carries greater energy than the visible light. This explains why we easily get sunburned under the ultraviolet rays of light than under the visible light. Imagine you are looking at a rainbow. You can see the ROYGBIV colors namely red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. They are seen under a visible light. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation comes right after violet. How come UV is invisible to us? Key Points The photon theory of light states that a photon is a discrete bundle of electromagnetic energy moving at the speed of light; it has no rest mass but has a momentum and carries energy. Atomic spectra is the unique set of frequencies emitted by an atom whenever its electron undergoes excitation and returns to its original energy level. The frequency of a photon is directly proportional to the energy it carries. The higher the frequency of the photon, the greater is its energy. Since red light has the least frequency in the color spectrum of light, it also has the least amount of energy and can therefore be used in photographic dark rooms because it would have the least effect on a very sensitive paper film. Given that ultraviolet has a higher frequency than the visible light, it follows that it would also have greater energy, which causes us to get easily sunburned under the UV light compared to visible light. The colors we see depends on the frequency of light that the object absorbs and reflects.