Why is the wavelength of blue light different from that of red light?
Why is the wavelength of blue light different from that of red light?
Blue light has a shorter wavelength than does red light, and since it travels at the same speed (in vacuum) as red light, has a higher frequency. This gives it a higher energy per photon. You can get an idea of how that works by taking a heavy blanket and shaking it out at about one shake per two seconds, and then change that to shaking it out at about two shakes per second if you can. You'll find that the higher frequency of doing the same thing takes a lot more energy. It's a crude analogy I know.
Waves don't really travel in straight paths under all conditions. One of the things that brings out the wave nature of light is how it interacts with obstacles. To some extent it can bend around obstacles. Different wavelengths bend differently. Red and blue light differ in this respect as well. They will bend differently around an object (this is most easily seen for small objects). A source that appears purplish because it is made up of a read and blue source that are in the same place (approximately) will be partly separated into its red and blue components when bending around an edge because they get bent (diffracted) differently.
There are too many ramifications of these differences (and characteristics in general) of light to list here, and that's why the study of light is so very important to the modern world.
Blue light has a shorter wavelength than does red light, and since it travels at the same speed (in vacuum) as red light, has a higher frequency. This gives it a higher energy per photon. You can get an idea of how that works by taking a heavy blanket and shaking it out at about one shake per two seconds, and then change that to shaking it out at about two shakes per second if you can. You'll find that the higher frequency of doing the same thing takes a lot more energy. It's a crude analogy I know.
Waves don't really travel in straight paths under all conditions. One of the things that brings out the wave nature of light is how it interacts with obstacles. To some extent it can bend around obstacles. Different wavelengths bend differently. Red and blue light differ in this respect as well. They will bend differently around an object (this is most easily seen for small objects). A source that appears purplish because it is made up of a read and blue source that are in the same place (approximately) will be partly separated into its red and blue components when bending around an edge because they get bent (diffracted) differently.
There are too many ramifications of these differences (and characteristics in general) of light to list here, and that's why the study of light is so very important to the modern world.
