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  2. Electromagnetic radiation - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_radiation

    As a wave, light is characterized by a velocity (the speed of light), wavelength, and frequency. As particles, light is a stream of photons. Each has an energy related to the frequency of the wave given by Planck's relation E = hf, where E is the energy of the photon, h is the Planck constant, 6.626 × 10 −34 J·s, and f is the frequency of ...

  3. Light - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light

    One of Newton's arguments against the wave nature of light was that waves were known to bend around obstacles, while light travelled only in straight lines. He did, however, explain the phenomenon of the diffraction of light (which had been observed by Francesco Grimaldi) by allowing that a light particle could create a localised wave in the ...

  4. Absorption (electromagnetic radiation) - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_(electromagnetic...

    By recording the attenuation of light for various wavelengths, an absorption spectrum can be obtained. In physics, absorption of electromagnetic radiation is how matter (typically electrons bound in atoms) takes up a photon's energy—and so transforms electromagnetic energy into internal energy of the absorber (for example, thermal energy). [1]

  5. Electromagnetic spectrum - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_spectrum

    Visible light (and near-infrared light) is typically absorbed and emitted by electrons in molecules and atoms that move from one energy level to another. This action allows the chemical mechanisms that underlie human vision and plant photosynthesis. The light that excites the human visual system is a very small portion of the electromagnetic ...

  6. Photon - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photon

    A photon (from Ancient Greek φῶς, φωτός (phôs, phōtós) 'light') is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force.

  7. Photon energy - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photon_energy

    Photon energy is the energy carried by a single photon. The amount of energy is directly proportional to the photon's electromagnetic frequency and thus, equivalently, is inversely proportional to the wavelength. The higher the photon's frequency, the higher its energy. Equivalently, the longer the photon's wavelength, the lower its energy.

  8. Optics - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optics

    These waves propagate at the speed of light and have varying electric and magnetic fields which are orthogonal to one another, and also to the direction of propagation of the waves. [49] Light waves are now generally treated as electromagnetic waves except when quantum mechanical effects have to be considered.

  9. Scintillation (physics) - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scintillation_(physics)

    In condensed matter physics, scintillation (/ ˈ s ɪ n t ɪ l eɪ ʃ ən / SIN-til-ay-shun) is the physical process where a material, called a scintillator, emits ultraviolet or visible light under excitation from high energy photons (X-rays or gamma rays) or energetic particles (such as electrons, alpha particles, neutrons, or ions).