On the EM Spectrum, which type of wave has the most energy?

1 Answer
Apr 7, 2018

Gamma rays.

Explanation:

A general guideline tends to be : short wavelength, high energy . But here is a way to show which waves are the most energetic:

The energy of a wave is given by the equation:

#E=hf#

#h#=Planck's constant #(6,6261·10^(-34) Js^-1)#
#f#=frequency of the wave

Hence we can see that the energy of a wave is proportional to its frequency, as the other term is a constant.

Then we can ask ourselves, which waves are the ones with the highest frequency?

If we use another equation:

#c=flambda#

#c#=speed of light ,#3.0 times 10^8 ms^-1#
#f#=frequency (Hz)
#lambda#=wavelength in meters.

Then we can see that, as #c# is constant in a vacuum, and #f# is high, then #lambda#, the wavelength, must be low.
Now if we use this diagram of the EM-spectrum which show wavelengths:

Western Reserve public media

We can thus conclude that the waves that have the shortest wavelength are gamma rays, and thus they are the most energetic because they must also have the highest frequency.