No. 12, Myllappanahalli, Yelahanka, Bengaluru North-560089.

(Affiliated to CBSE Code: 830332)

CBSE CLASS – 12

SUBJECT-PHYSICS

INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

(2023-2024)

TOPIC: Different frequencies of light have

different energy

SUBMITTED TO: Sridhar sir

SUBMITTED BY: Surya prakaash

CLASS: XII (SCIENCE)

REG.No:
 Acknowledgement
I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to
my teacher Sridhar sir as well as our principal Mrs Susan
Samy who gave me the golden opportunity to do this
wonderful investigatory project on frequencies and energy
of light source, which also led me in doing a lot of Research
which allowed me to know more about it

Secondly, I would also like to thank my parents and

friends who helped me a lot in finalizing this project
within the limited time frame.
 Certificate
This is to certify that Mr. Surya prakaash of class XII-Science has
successfully completed his project report. He has successfully
taken proper care and at most sincerity in completion of this
project. All the work related to the project was done by the
candidate under the guidance of Mr. Sridhar
The approach towards the subject was sincere and scientific I
certify that this project is up to my expectation and as per the
guidance issued by CBSE

Teachers Signature External Signature

Principals Signature
 Introduction
Once Maxwell introduced the concept of electromagnetic waves,
everything clicked into place. Scientists now could develop a
complete working model of light using terms and concepts, such
as wavelength and frequency, based on the structure and
function of waves. According to that model, light waves come in
many sizes. The size of a wave is measured as its wavelength,
which is the distance between any two corresponding points on
successive waves, usually peak to peak or trough to trough. The
wavelengths of the light we can see range from 400 to 700
nanometers (or billionths of a meter). But the full range of
wavelengths included in the definition of electromagnetic
radiation extends from 0.1 nanometers, as in gamma rays, to
centimeters and meters, as in radio waves.
Light waves also come in many frequencies. The frequency is
the number of waves that pass a point in space during any time
interval, usually one second. We measure it in units of cycles
(waves) per second, or hertz. The frequency of visible light is
referred to as color, and ranges from 430 trillion hertz, seen as
red, to 750 trillion hertz, seen as violet. Again, the full range of
frequencies extends beyond the visible portion, from less than 3
billion hertz, as in radio waves, to greater than 3 billion hertz (3
x 1019), as in gamma rays.
 Hertz
Hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency.in the International
System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per
second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in
terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one hertz is the
reciprocal of one second. It is named after Heinrich Rudolf
Hertz (1857–1894), the first person to provide conclusive proof
of the existence of electromagnetic waves. Hertz is commonly
expressed in multiples: kilohertz (kHz), megahertz (MHz),
gigahertz (GHz), terahertz (THz).
The hertz is equivalent to one cycle per second. Some of the
unit's most common uses are in the description of periodic
waveforms and musical tones, particularly those used in radio-
and audio-related applications. It is also used to describe the
clock speeds at which computers and other electronics are
driven. The units are sometimes also used as a representation of
the energy of a photon, via the Planck relation E = hν, where E
is the photon's energy, ν is its frequency, and h is the Planck
constant.
Radio
Radio waves are emitted and received by antennas, which
consist of conductors such as metal rod resonators. In artificial
generation of radio waves, an electronic device called a
transmitter generates an AC current which is applied to an
antenna. The oscillating electrons in the antenna generate
oscillating electric and magnetic fields that radiate away from
the antenna as radio waves.

Microwaves
Microwaves are radio waves of short wavelength, from about 10
centimeters to one millimeter, in the SHF and EHF frequency
bands. Microwave energy is produced with klystron and
magnetron tubes, and with solid state devices such as Gunn.

Infrared radiation
The infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum covers the
range from roughly 300 GHz to 400 THz (1 mm – 750 nm). It
can be divided into three parts:
Far-infrared, from 300 GHz to 30 THz
Mid-infrared, from 30 to 120 THz
Near-infrared, from 120 to 400 THz

Visible rays
Above infrared in frequency comes visible light. The Sun emits
its peak power in the visible region, although integrating the
entire emission power spectrum through all wavelengths shows
that the Sun emits slightly more infrared than visible light.
Visible rays are the part of the EM spectrum the human eye is
the most sensitive to.

Ultraviolet radiation
Next in frequency comes ultraviolet (UV). The wavelength of
UV rays is shorter than the violet end of the visible spectrum but
longer than the X-ray. UV is the longest wavelength radiation
whose photons are energetic enough to ionize atoms, separating
electrons from them, and thus causing chemical reactions.

X-rays
After UV come X-rays, which, like the upper ranges of UV are
also ionizing. However, due to their higher energies, X-rays can
also interact with matter by means of the Compton effect. Hard
X-rays have shorter wavelengths than soft X-rays and as they
can pass through many substances with little absorption, they
can be used to 'see through' objects with 'thicknesses' less than
that equivalent to a few meters of water.

Gamma rays
After hard X-rays come gamma rays, which were discovered by
Paul Ulrich Villard in 1900. These are the most energetic
photons, having no defined lower limit to their wavelength.
 Frequency to energy
In 1900, Planck discovered that there was a direct relationship
between a photon's frequency and its energy:
E = h nu
The higher the frequency of light, the higher its energy. We
know from the problems above that higher frequencies mean
shorter wavelengths. We can also say that E = h c / lambda.
High frequency light has short wavelengths and high energy. X-
rays or gamma-rays are examples of this. Radio waves are
examples of light with a long wavelength, low frequency, and
low energy.
In much the same way, the gallons of gas you put in your car
and the cost of the gas are proportional: the same value
multiplied by a constant (the price of a gallon of gas). If you
know the constant (the price per gallon) and you know the
number of gallons, you can calculate how much the gas costs.
Or, if you know how much the gas cost, you can calculate how
much gas was bought.
Questions about frequency
1. Light has different frequencies, why doesn't it
have different speeds?
Any wave, whether it is light, sound (air acoustics),
electromagnetic, seismic, or sonar, has the property that its
speed doesn't depend on frequency. The property of the medium
that the wave travels through is what determines speed.
Suppose this was not true! Then we would have a very hard time
talking to each other or listening to music. Why? Because if two
notes created at the same time arrived at a different time in the
listener's ear (which is what you are suggesting by frequency
dependent wave speed) the music (or by analogy speech) would
be a garbled mess. If every color of light (each color is a
different frequency) traveled at a different speed, you would
have a similar mess on your hands and vision would get fuzzy

2. Why does frequency of light not change when

travelled from one medium to another?
Visualize this by thinking of light as a wave, crests and troughs
marching along in a vacuum or in air. Suddenly the wave
impacts the surface of a medium - such as glass - within which
the speed of light is slower due to interactions with the
molecules making up the glass. That crest that just entered the
surface is going to keep moving, only slower. But the next crest
is coming in behind it, just as fast.
 Experiment
Aim
The experiment "Do different frequencies of light contain
different amounts of energy?" was conducted to discover
whether higher frequencies of visible light, such as blue light,
transfer greater, measurable amounts of energy to other
substances. Although it's true that higher frequencies carry
greater amounts of energy than lower frequencies, it is not
widely known how wide the difference is between colors as
close in the spectrum as red, green, and blue.

Methods/ Materials
The experimental apparatus included an LED capable of
creating three colors, red, green, and blue, by changing the
circuit's construction. The light was directed at a drop of
isopropyl alcohol. The time it took for the alcohol to evaporate
would represent the relative power of each color of light. Each
color was tested 25 times.

Result
Using red light, the alcohol evaporated after an average of
1:18.7. It evaporated in 1:6.39 under green and 0:48.4 using
blue. According to the t test, the differences between these
results were all statistically significant
BIBLIOGRAPHY
. Class 11 chemistry part 1 text book

. Class 12 physics part 1 and part 2 text book

. https://lambdageeks.com/relationship-between-
frequency- and-
energy/?msclkid=88612d77bf1c11ec8c36ba3c9e49
44b4

. .https://byjus.com/physics/the-electromagnetic-
spectrum-visible-
light/#:~:text=Visible%20light%20has%20around%2
0400,optically%20by%20the%20human%20eye

. https://science.howstuffworks.com/light3.htm