068
Quantisation of light
Light arrives in packets, and the energy it delivers climbs in steps of hν.
Field
Detail
Study
068
Chapter
Quantum basics
Equation
E_photon = hν, E_total = n hν
What moves
n, the number of packets; the light's intensity; ν, the frequency
Structure
Film
Colour means
the energy each arriving packet adds
Posted
Up close, a line of energy climbs in steps: each time a blue packet of light arrives, the line jumps by one step, hν. Pull back far enough and the same steps read as a smooth ramp. Dim the light and fewer packets arrive, at uneven times, but every step stays the same size. Double the frequency and each packet adds twice as much, 2hν.