A research team is developing a qualitative spectroscopy lesson for introductory students. They wish to emphasize the direct connection between a light wave’s frequency and the energy that the wave can deliver to a single atom.
(a) Compare the relative energies of photons in a radio broadcast at 95.3 MHz and the orange component of a sodium streetlight at 5.08 × 10¹⁴ Hz. In your explanation, do not perform any numerical calculation; instead, use proportional reasoning.
(b) The team claims that doubling the frequency of a photon will double its energy, regardless of wavelength. Explain whether this claim is valid and justify your answer in terms of fundamental constants.
(c) Describe how the inverse relationship between wavelength and frequency supports your explanation in part (b) and discuss one practical implication of this relationship for the design of spectroscopic instrumentation.