Intensity vs. Amplitude
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Re: Intensity vs. Amplitude
A photon of light is a fixed amount for each electron in each element, so there is no change in intensity of a particular photon.
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Re: Intensity vs. Amplitude
I believe there is no "intensity" of photons- instead, the intensity of a light source relates to the number of photons (i.e. an intense light would correspond to many more photons than a dim light). In the wave model, the intensity of a light relates to the amplitude of the wave (imagine waves at a beach- the higher the wave, the stronger it is).
This is why the photoelectric effect experiment disproved the wave model, since increasing the intensity of a dim light should technically eventually give the light enough energy to knock off an electron from a metal source, but it turned out that the energy of light was related to frequency, and not necessarily amplitude. If you can picture light as particles, increasing the frequency of those particles would be analogous to increasing their speed/kinetic energy, which is where the particle model of light came from.
This is why the photoelectric effect experiment disproved the wave model, since increasing the intensity of a dim light should technically eventually give the light enough energy to knock off an electron from a metal source, but it turned out that the energy of light was related to frequency, and not necessarily amplitude. If you can picture light as particles, increasing the frequency of those particles would be analogous to increasing their speed/kinetic energy, which is where the particle model of light came from.
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Re: Intensity vs. Amplitude
Light intensity is proportional to the number of protons. The more intense a light is, the more photons it has.
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- Posts: 60
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Re: Intensity vs. Amplitude
The intensity of light in the wave model is associated with the amplitude of a wave because a higher amplitude correlates with higher intensity light. When thinking about light as a particle, the intensity of the light is based on the number of photons.
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Re: Intensity vs. Amplitude
In the wave model of electromagnetic radiation, intensity is proportional to the square of the amplitude. However, in the particle model, intensity is proportional to the number of photons present at an instant.
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