6. Photon Energy

Photon is an elementary particle of invariant mass of zero value that containing certain amount of energy like packets called quantum energy. Quantum mechanics is a part of physics that developed from the study of electromagnetic waves in which the quantum of energy is refers to a specific amount of energy that can be carried by photon of EM wave at a specific frequency or wavelength. In quantum mechanics, each photon has a characteristic quantum of energy that depends on frequency of the EM wave.

Photons in a Light Wave

EM waves are typically described by any one of the following three physical properties: Frequency, Wavelength and Photon Energy. Photo energy is the energy carried by a single photon which can be illustrated by a formula.

The amount of energy is directly proportional to the photon's electromagnetic frequency and is inversely proportional to the wavelength. In the EM spectrum, the limit for long wavelength is the size of the Universe itself, while the short wavelength limit is likely to be the Planck's length. Each photon carries a certain amount or quantum of energy depending on its wavelength. The shorter the wavelength of a photon, the greater its frequency and energy.

For example; the lower frequency waves such as infrared, microwave and radiowave has longer wavelengths than the visible light but has lower energy than that of the visible light. The higher frequency waves of shorter wavelengths such as ultraviolet rays, X-rays and Gamma waves has more energy than the visible light which can be harmful to our body. In brief, if our body exposed to infrared rays, our body feels heat and get swept whereas ultraviolet rays cause sunburn.