Homework Help: physics

Posted by rick on Wednesday, March 5, 2008 at 9:17pm.

The human eye is most sensitive to light having a frequency of about 5.3*10^14 Hz, which is in the yellow-green region of the electromagnetic spectrum. How many wavelengths of this light can fit across the width of your thumb, a distance of about 2.0 cm?

physics - drwls, Thursday, March 6, 2008 at 4:50am
First you need to calculate the wavelength L of that frequency of light, using the formula
L = (speed of light)/frequency
Use c = 3.00*10^10 cm/s for the speed of light
L = (3.00 cm/s)/(5.3*10^14 s^-1)= 5.66*10^-5 cm
Divide your thumb's width by that wavelength to get the number of waves.

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