What is the relationship between the speed of light, wavelength, and frequency of electromagnetic radiation?

1 Answer
May 23, 2015

c=lambda*nu, where c is the speed of light, lambda is the wavelength, and nu is the frequency.

The speed of light in a vacuum, c, is 3.00xx10^(8)"m/s" rounded to 3 significant figures.

Explanation:

Practice Problem

What is the frequency of the wavelength of light of 650"nm"?

("1 nm" = 1xx10^(-9) "m")

Convert wavelength to meters.

650.0color(red)cancel(color(black)("nm"))xx(1xx10^(-9)"m")/(1color(red)cancel(color(black)("nm")))=6.50xx10^(-7)"m"

Rearrange the equation to isolate nu.

nu=c/lambda

(3.00xx10^8color(red)cancel(color(black)("m"))/"s")/(6.50xx10^(-7)color(red)cancel(color(black)("m"))) =

(4.62xx10^14)/s=4.62xx10^14 "Hz"

Hertz (Hz) is the unit for frequency. It is 1/"s" .