104 Lec 1

Microscopes and
Microscopy

The electromagnetic spectrum is the
range of all possible frequencies of electromagnetic
radiation.
 The "electromagnetic spectrum" of an object is the

characteristic distribution of electromagnetic radiation
emitted or absorbed by that particular object.
 The electromagnetic spectrum extends from low frequencies used for
modern radio to gamma radiation at the short-wavelength end, covering
wavelengths from thousands of kilometers down to a fraction of the size of
an atom.
 In principle the spectrum is infinite and continuous.

Color Frequency Wavelength
violet 668–789 THz 380–450 nm
blue 631–668 THz 450–475 nm
cyan 606–630 THz 476–495 nm
green 526–606 THz 495–570 nm
yellow 508–526 THz 570–590 nm
orange 484–508 THz 590–620 nm
red 400–484 THz 620–750 nm

Spectrum of Electromagnetic Radiation
Region Wavelength Wavelength Frequency Energy

(Angstroms) (centimeters) (Hz) (eV)
Radio > 109 > 10 < 3 x 109 < 10-5
Microwave 109 - 106 10 - 0.01 3 x 109 - 3 x 1012 10-5 - 0.01
Infrared 106 - 7000 0.01 - 7 x 10-5 3 x 1012 - 4.3 x 1014 0.01 - 2
Visible 7000 - 4000 7 x 10-5 - 4 x 10-5 4.3 x 1014 - 7.5 x 1014 2-3
Ultraviolet 4000 - 10 4 x 10-5 - 10-7 7.5 x 1014 - 3 x 1017 3 - 103
X-Rays 10 - 0.1 10-7 - 10-9 3 x 1017 - 3 x 1019 103 - 105
Gamma Rays < 0.1 < 10-9 > 3 x 1019 > 105
 Electromagnetic Waves are used to transmit
long/short/FM wavelength radio waves, and
TV/telephone/wireless signals or energies.
 They are also responsible for transmitting energy in the

form of microwaves, infrared radiation (IR), visible light
(VIS), ultraviolet light (UV), X-rays, and gamma rays.
 Each region of this spectrum plays an important part in

our lives, and in the business involving communication
technology.
 The wavelength, the frequency, and the speed of light
obey the following relationship:
Wavelength  frequency = speed of light.
 The speed of light is usually represented by c, the

wavelength by the lower case Greek letter lambda ()
and the frequency by lower case Greek letter nu ( ).
 In these symbols, the above formula is:

. =c
 In his research on the radiation from a hot (black) body, Max.
Planck made a simple proposal.
 He suggested that light consists of photons.

 The energy, E, of each individual photon of a monochromatic
light wave, is proportional to the frequency,  , of the light:
E=h
 where h (= 6.626 x 10-34 J s) is now known as the Planck

constant. [J.s = Joule second or Kg.m2/Sec-1]
In physics, a quantum (plural: quanta) is the
minimum amount of any physical entity involved in an
interaction.
Behind this, one finds the fundamental notion that a

physical property may be "quantized," referred to as
"the hypothesis of quantization”. This means that the
magnitude can take on only certain discrete values.
A photon is a single quantum of light, and is

referred to as a "light quantum". The energy of an
electron bound to an atom is quantized, which results
in the stability of atoms, and hence of matter in
general.
 EM waves are typically described by any of the following
three physical properties: the frequency f, wavelength λ,
or photon energy E.
 Wavelength is inversely proportional to the wave

frequency, so gamma rays have very short wavelengths
that are fractions of the size of atoms, whereas
wavelengths can be as long as the universe.
 Photon energy is directly proportional to the wave

frequency, so gamma rays have the highest energy (around
a billion electron volts) and radio waves have very low
energy (around femto electron volts).
 These relations are illustrated by the following equations:
 f = c/ f = E/h E = hc/
 where:
 c = 299,792,458 m/s is the speed of light in vacuum and
 h = 6.62606896(33)×10−34
 Whenever electromagnetic waves exist in a medium
with matter, their wavelength is decreased.
 Generally, EM radiation is classified by wavelength

into radio wave, microwave, infrared, the
visible region we perceive as light, ultraviolet, X-rays
and gamma rays.
 The behavior of EM radiation depends on its

wavelength. When EM radiation interacts with single
atoms and molecules, its behavior also depends on
the amount of energy per quantum (photon) it carries.
 Electromagnetic waves can be described by their wavelengths,
energy, and frequency.
 All three of these things describe a different property of light, yet

they are related to each other mathematically.
 X-rays and gamma-rays are usually described in terms of energy,

 optical and infrared light in terms of wavelength, and
 radio in terms of frequency.
 This is a scientific convention that allows the use of the units that
are the most convenient for describing whatever energy of light you
are looking at.
 thereis a huge difference in energy between radio waves
and gamma-rays.
 Electron-volts, or eV, are a unit of energy often used to

describe light in astronomy.
A radio wave can have an energy of around

4 x 10-10 eV –
Whereas, a gamma-ray can have an energy of
4 x 109 eV.
That's an energy difference of 1019 (or ten million trillion)

eV
 We already know that when we talk about wavelength, we are
talking about the distance between two peaks of a wave.
 Wavelength is usually measured in meters (m).
 Frequency is the number of cycles of a wave to pass some point in

a second.
 The units of frequency are thus cycles per second, or Hertz (Hz).
 Radio stations have frequencies. They are usually equal to the

station number times 1,000,000 Hz. For instance, - the local
Washington, DC station HFS has a frequency of 99.1 million Hz
in the FM radio band.
 We already know that light acts like a wave,
 butdid you know that sometimes it acts like a particle?

We call particles of light photons.
 Low-energy photons, like radio photons, tend to behave

more like waves, while higher energy photons (i.e. X-
rays) behave more like particles.
 That's another reason that we don't talk about X-ray

waves very often. Instead we talk about individual X-
rays and their energies.
 Radio waves have frequencies from 300 GHz to as low as 3 kHz, and
corresponding wavelengths ranging from 1 millimeter (0.039 inches) to 100
kilometers (62 miles).
 Like all other electromagnetic waves, they travel at the speed of light. Naturally
occurring radio waves are made by lightning, or by astronomical objects.
Artificially generated radio waves are used for fixed and mobile
radio communication, broadcasting, radar and other navigation systems,
communications satellites, computer networks and innumerable other
applications.
 Different frequencies of radio waves have different propagation characteristics

in the Earth's atmosphere; long waves may cover a part of the Earth very
consistently, shorter waves can reflect off the ionosphere and travel around the
world, and much shorter wavelengths bend or reflect very little and travel on a
line of sight.
 Spectroscopy can detect a much wider region of the EM
spectrum than the visible range of 400 nm to 700 nm.
A common laboratory spectroscope can detect

wavelengths from 2 nm to 2500 nm.
 Detailedinformation about the physical properties of

objects, gases, or even stars can be obtained from this
type of device.
 Spectroscopes are widely used in astrophysics.
 Forexample, many hydrogen atoms emit a

radio wave photon which has a wavelength of
21.12 cm.
 Also,frequencies of 30 Hz and below can be

produced by and are important in the study of certain
stellar nebulae and frequencies as high as 2.9×1027
Hz have been detected from astrophysical sources.
The visible spectrum
 The visible spectrum is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum
that is visible to (can be detected by) the human eye.
Electromagnetic radiation in this range of wavelengths is called
visible light or simply light. A typical human eye will respond to
wavelengths from about 390 to 750 nm.
 A light-adapted eye generally has its maximum sensitivity at around

555 nm (540 THz), in the green region of the optical spectrum.
 The spectrum does not, however, contain all the colors that the human
eyes and brain can distinguish. Unsaturated colors such as pink, or
purple variations such as magenta, are absent, for example, because
they can only be made by a mix of multiple wavelengths.
 Visible wavelengths also pass through the "optical
window", the region of the electromagnetic spectrum that
passes largely unattenuated through the Earth's atmosphere.
Clean air scatters blue light more than wavelengths toward
the red, which is why the mid-day sky appears blue.
 Many species can see frequencies which fall outside the

"visible spectrum". Bees and many other insects can see
light in the ultraviolet, which helps them find nectar in
flowers. Plant species that depend on insect pollination may
owe reproductive success to their appearance in ultraviolet
light, rather than how colorful they appear to humans. Birds
too can see into the ultraviolet (300–400 nm),

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Microscopes and

 The "electromagnetic spectrum" of an object is the

 In principle the spectrum is infinite and continuous.

violet 668–789 THz 380–450 nm

blue 631–668 THz 450–475 nm

cyan 606–630 THz 476–495 nm

green 526–606 THz 495–570 nm

yellow 508–526 THz 570–590 nm

orange 484–508 THz 590–620 nm

red 400–484 THz 620–750 nm

Region Wavelength Wavelength Frequency Energy

 They are also responsible for transmitting energy in the

 Each region of this spectrum plays an important part in

Wavelength  frequency = speed of light.

 The speed of light is usually represented by c, the

 In these symbols, the above formula is:

 He suggested that light consists of photons.

 where h (= 6.626 x 10-34 J s) is now known as the Planck

Behind this, one finds the fundamental notion that a

A photon is a single quantum of light, and is

 Wavelength is inversely proportional to the wave

 Photon energy is directly proportional to the wave

 f = c/ f = E/h E = hc/

 Generally, EM radiation is classified by wavelength

 The behavior of EM radiation depends on its

 All three of these things describe a different property of light, yet

 X-rays and gamma-rays are usually described in terms of energy,

 Electron-volts, or eV, are a unit of energy often used to

A radio wave can have an energy of around

That's an energy difference of 1019 (or ten million trillion)

 Wavelength is usually measured in meters (m).

 Frequency is the number of cycles of a wave to pass some point in

 Radio stations have frequencies. They are usually equal to the

 butdid you know that sometimes it acts like a particle?

 Low-energy photons, like radio photons, tend to behave

 That's another reason that we don't talk about X-ray

 Different frequencies of radio waves have different propagation characteristics

A common laboratory spectroscope can detect

 Detailedinformation about the physical properties of

 Forexample, many hydrogen atoms emit a

 Also,frequencies of 30 Hz and below can be

 A light-adapted eye generally has its maximum sensitivity at around

 Many species can see frequencies which fall outside the

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