Eli5: What does amplitude correlate with in light waves?

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In sound waves, the amplitude determines the volume of the sound, and the wavelength determines the pitch.

Similar to pitch, the wavelength of an light wave (i guess an electromagnetic wave?) determines the hue of the light: what color it is, or where it falls on the electromagnetic spectrum.

So that’s what the wavelength correlates to. What about the amplitude?

In: Physics

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

The amplitude of the wave correlates the the strength of the electric and magnetic fields. The wavelength correlates to how far you have to move to get from one region of maximum voltage to the next.

The amplitude coupled to the frequency gives you an energy density. How much energy is in a cubic meter of light at a given amplitude and frequency.

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