PHYS 0847 Lecture 9: Physics - Chapter 9
Document Summary
Light can have many different wavelength and frequencies. For visible light, we call this its color. Red light has the highest wavelength of the visible colors, and violet has the lowest wavelength. Just as some wavelengths of sound are audible and others are not, so too some wavelengths of light are visible and others are not. Visible light is only a tiny range of colors. Light also includes any oscillations of the electric and magnetic field that happen outside of the visible spectrum. The shorter the wavelength (or larger the frequency) of light, the more energy it has. As a general rule, more energy means more dangerous. Gamma rays and x-rays have the shortest wavelength and the most energy. (recall: they have enough energy to damage dna) Uv also has a significant amount of energy since its wavelength is shorter than visible light. This is why it can cause sunburns and damage eyes.
