## Shorter vs Longer Wavelength

$c=\lambda v$

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Enrico Cortes
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2015 3:00 am

### Shorter vs Longer Wavelength

Why is a shorter wavelength more able to eject an electron than a longer wavelength? What specific property does the shorter wavelength have than the longer one?

Shivam Patel
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Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2015 3:00 am

### Re: Shorter vs Longer Wavelength

Shorter wavelengths of light have more energy than longer wavelengths of light do.

Raneem Mokatrin 3F
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Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2015 3:00 am

### Re: Shorter vs Longer Wavelength

It mainly has to do with their inverse relationship with frequency. Shorter wavelengths coincide with higher frequencies, which are what directly result in increased energy.

Alfredo Rodriguez 3C
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2015 3:00 am

### Re: Shorter vs Longer Wavelength

The shorter the wavelength the higher the frequency thus it carries more energy. In this formula you can see how they are inverse: $c = \lambda \upsilon$. Since c (speed of light) is constant, wavelength and frequency must balance out inversely to make sure its value stays the same. This then translates to the following equation:$E = \frac{\textit{hc}}{\lambda}$ = $h\upsilon$. If frequency ($\upsilon$) increases, energy (E) also increases. However, for frequency to be large, wavelength must be small as stated in the previous formula.
Last edited by Chem_Mod on Thu Dec 03, 2015 12:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

Darlene Fung 1J
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Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2015 3:00 am

### Re: Shorter vs Longer Wavelength

The smaller the wavelength, the larger the energy. The larger the wavelength, the smaller the energy.

SubparChemist
Posts: 27
Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2015 3:00 am

### Re: Shorter vs Longer Wavelength

Adding onto this, there's something I've been confused about. Is there more energy because a greater amount of photons is able to bombard the electron at a given instance because of the higher frequency or because each individual photon just has more energy?

704628249
Posts: 43
Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2015 3:00 am

### Re: Shorter vs Longer Wavelength

Shorter wavelengths have higher frequencies. E= planks constant times frequency. Higher frequency will give you a higher energy.

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