This document discusses the nature of light and quanta. It explains that light propagates as electromagnetic waves that can be described by amplitude, wavelength, and frequency. Max Planck proposed the quantum theory which holds that light energy is quantized in multiples of Planck's constant times the frequency of light. This means light exists as both waves and particles called photons, whose energy is calculated using Planck's constant and the frequency of light.

2. A quantum (plural: quanta)
is the smallest discrete unit
of a phenomenon. For
example, a quantum of light
is a photon, and a quantum
of electricity is an electron.
Quantum comes from Latin,
meaning "an amount" or
"how much?" If something
is quantifiable, then it can
be measured.

3. Electromagnetic
(EM) waves
Hertz (Hz)
Speed
Wave equation
Max Planck
Planck’s constant
(6.626x10−34
J•s
E=hf=
ℎ𝑐
λ
Photons
Visible light
Amplitude
Wavelength
Frequency

4. Light propagates through space in the form of electromagnetic
(EM) waves, which have both electric and magnetic properties.
Visible light –is the portion of the eye which we can see using
our naked eye.
This visible light consists of 7 different colors (ROYGBIV); each
color with distinct characteristics.

5. Can be described in terms of:
Amplitude
Wavelength
frequency
The distance
from the equilibrium point(x-axis) of a
propagating wave to the highest (or
lowest) point of the waveform.
(λ) is the distance between identical
points in successive cycles in a
propagating wave and is usually
measured in nanometers (nm) for the
visible light regions.
(f) Is the number of cycles that a wave
makes per unit of time and is usually
expressed in units of Hertz (Hz) of 1/s
(read as “per second”)

7. The frequency and wavelength of a wave
is related to its speed (v)in the basic wave
equation:

8. This equation is used in describing
the energy associated with light.
When travelling in a vacuum, the
speed of light is 3.0x108m/s and
represented with the symbol c.

9. He is a German
theoretical
physicist who in
1900, proposed the
Quantum Theory,
which won him the
Nobel prize in
Physics in 1918.

10. According to this theory, light energy is
“quantized” in multiples of hf. Each
quantized energy, called a ‘quantum’, can
be calculated using the equation;
E=hf
Where h is the Planck’s constant with a
value of 6.626x𝟏𝟎−𝟑𝟒
J•s
f is the frequency in Hertz (Hz)

11. The energy of light of a certain
wavelength can be calculated using
the equation;
Where λ is expressed in meters.

14. Proposed that light, aside
from being an
electromagnetic wave, also
exists as a tiny particles,
which were later called
photons. These two
characteristics of light came
to be known as the dual
nature of light, which is
consistent with the quantum
theory known today.

15. The photons can be
considered as the
quantized form of
light. The energy of a
photon can be
measured in
quantities of hf.