Chemistry 1301A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: In C, Bond Length, Valence Electron

• School: Western University
• Department: Chemistry
• Course: Chemistry 1301A/B
• Professor: Christina Booker

Document Summary

These are oscillations of an electromagnetic field that propagate through space at the speed of light (i. e. visible light, uv light, x-rays, infrared light, etc. ) Wavelength () distance b/w two equivalent points of the wave, and are expressed in units of length (i. e. nanometer; 1nm = 10-9m) Frequency () the # of oscillation cycles that occur at a fixed point in a second; its si units are s- or hertz (hz) Wavelength and frequency characterize simple periodic waves propagating along an axis that can be described by a sine function. Amplitude () the height of a wave (2 gives the wave intensity) Frequency and wavelength of an electromagnetic wave are related to each other through the formula: , where is the speed of light (3 x 108 m/s) Higher amplitude = lower frequency = brighter light intensity. Lower amplitude = higher frequency = dimmer light intensity.