NSCI 1321 Chapter 7: General Chem Chapter 7
Document Summary
Wave is a continuously repeating change or oscillation in matter or in a physical field. Light is a wave (oscillations in electric and magnetic fields) traveling through space. Wavelength is the distance between any two adjacent identical points of a wave. Frequency is the number of wavelengths of a wave that pass a fixed point in one unit of time (usually one second). Electromagnetic spectrum is the range of frequencies or wave-lengths of electromagnetic radiation. When the wavelength is reduced by a factor of two, the frequency increases by a factor of two. Planck"s constant is a physical constant with the value 6. 63 x 10^-34 j. s . It is the proportionality constant relating the frequency of light to the energy of a photon. One property of waves is that they can be diffracted that is, they spread out when they encounter an obstacle about the size of the wavelength.