Max Planck’s constant

The Forces of Nature by Kelland Terry, Ph.D.

I have already introduced the idea that the oscillation frequency of a gamma ray photon is much greater than a small radio wave photon. Oscillation frequency is directly related to the energy of the photon. What we are really saying is that the rate a photon goes through its string cycles is directly related to the photon’s mass and energy.

In 1900, Max Planck compared oscillation frequency and the energy of light, and from this he was able to show that the energy of a photon can be calculated using its frequency: E = hf, which applies to all photons. The letter h in this equation is Planck’s constant and f is the frequency of oscillation. Planck’s constant has a value of 6.626 x 10^-34 joule seconds. Thus, the energy in joules for a radio wave with a frequency of 1 x 10^4 is 6.626 x 10^-30 joules. The energy of a photon of visible light with a frequency of 1 x 10^15 is 6.626 x 10^-19 joules.

Planck came to this conclusion: The total energy of a given source of light is equal to nfh, where n is the number of photons emitted, f is the frequency of the photons, and h is Planck’s constant. This was an important contribution by Planck because it clearly stated that light was composed of discrete particles whose frequency and number dictated the total energy of the light emitted.

We still have Einstein and the special theory of relativity to be concerned with but we’ll get there eventually. Till then be safe and in good health. Kelland—www.vestheory.com