PHYS 1070 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Electron Diffraction, Photon, Chlorophyll
25 Mar 2015
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Phys1070: intro physics for life sci - lecture 15: world of quantum mechanics. Many biological molecules are important because of their ability to convert electromagnetic waves to chemical energy. For example - pigments involved in vision, chlorophyll, etc. Most chemical reactions involve energies on the order of 1-4ev. Energy carried by photons in the uv and visible spectrum. Photons in this range initiate chemical reactions by redistributing the electrons involved in the chemical bonding of molecules. The type of reaction is based entirely on energy. An electromagnetic wave is produced when an electrical charge is accelerated. Electromagnetic waves (light) is released in individual lumps or quants of energy we refer to as photons. Energy of a photon is given by e=hf=h(c/ ) Photons are massless and travel at the same speed as the wave part! This idea of light acting as both a particle and a wave revolutionized modern physics and lead to quantum mechanics.
