A student generates a table enumerating various electromagnetic waves along with their energy levels, measured in electron volts.

Question

Electromagnetic wave: Microwave, ultraviolet X-rays
Energy (eV): 0.00001, 10, 30,000, 5,000,000

With what electromagnetic wave does the student fill in the question mark in the table?

(1 point)
Responses

gamma rays
gamma rays

visible light waves
visible light waves

infrared waves
infrared waves

radio waves

Answer 1

Based on the energy levels provided in the table, we can categorize the various electromagnetic waves. The energy of the electromagnetic waves generally increases from radio waves to gamma rays.

Here is the standard ordering of electromagnetic waves along with their energy ranges:

• Radio waves: Less than 0.001 eV
• Microwaves: About 0.00001 eV (as listed)
• Infrared waves: Approximately 1-1.5 eV
• Visible light: Approximately 1.5-3 eV
• Ultraviolet: About 10 eV (as listed)
• X-rays: Around 30,000 eV (as listed)
• Gamma rays: Up to several million eV (as implied by the 5,000,000 eV listed, which can refer to high-energy gamma rays)

Given the energies and the range of the different types of electromagnetic waves, the missing value for infrared waves would typically be placed between microwaves (0.00001 eV) and visible light waves (around 1.5 eV).

Thus, the correct answer to fill in the question mark in the student's table is infrared waves.