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The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all of the electromagnetic radiations. The diagram shows each radiation in order of increasing frequency.

The frequency of a wave is directly proportional to the energy of a wave while the wavelength is inversely proportional to the energy of a wave. The data table shows the frequencies, wavelength, and energy of electromagnetic radiations.

Radiation Type Wavelength (m) Frequency (Hz) Energy (J)
Radio wave > 1 × 10-1 < 3 × 109 < 2 × 10-24
Microwave 1 × 10-3 to 1 × 10-1 3 × 109 to 3 × 1011 2 × 10-24 to 2 × 10-22
Infrared 7 × 10-7 to 1 × 10-3 3 × 1011 to 4 × 1014 2 × 10-22 to 3 × 10-19
Visible light 4 × 10-7 to 7 × 10-7 4 × 1014 to 7.5 × 1014 3 × 10-19 to 5 × 10-19
UV ray 1 × 10-8 to 4 × 10-7 7.5 × 1014 to 3 × 1016 5 × 10-19 to 2 × 10-17
X-ray 1 × 10-11 to 1 × 10-8 3 × 1016 to 3 × 1019 2 × 10-17 to 2 × 10-14
Gamma ray < 1 × 10-11 > 3 × 1019 > 2 × 10-14
Visible light is the part of the spectrum that the human eye can see. The different colors of visible light correspond to different wavelengths, as shown in the diagram.

Multiple Choice Question
Which shows visible light in order of decreasing energy?

A.
green, blue, red

B.
blue, yellow, orange

C.
violet, yellow, green

D.
orange, green, indigo

1 answer

To determine the order of visible light colors in decreasing energy, we can refer to the relationship between wavelength and energy. The energy of electromagnetic radiation is directly proportional to its frequency and inversely proportional to its wavelength. This means that shorter wavelengths correspond to higher energy.

The order of visible light colors from shortest wavelength (highest energy) to longest wavelength (lowest energy) is:

  • Violet
  • Blue
  • Green
  • Yellow
  • Orange
  • Red

Now, let's analyze the multiple-choice options to find the one that correctly lists the colors in order of decreasing energy:

A. green, blue, red
B. blue, yellow, orange
C. violet, yellow, green
D. orange, green, indigo

Among these options, the only one that includes violet at the beginning, which has the highest energy among the visible spectrum, is:

C. violet, yellow, green

So, the correct answer is C. violet, yellow, green.