SHS

Physical Science
Activity Sheet
Quarter 2 – MELC 8
Week 3
Photon Theory of Light

REGION VI – WESTERN VISAYAS

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Physical Science
Activity Sheet No. 8- Photon Theory of Light
First Edition, 2020

Published in the Philippines

By the Department of Education
Region 6 – Western Visayas

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This Learning Activity Sheet is developed by DepEd Region 6 – Western

Visayas.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this learning resource may be

reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical
without written permission from the DepEd Regional Office 6 – Western Visayas.

Development Team of Physical Science Activity Sheet

Writer: Glaizelle T. Leonoras
Editor: Dannie Clark M. Uguil
Schools Division Quality Assurance Team:
Dannie Clark M. Uguil
Rusil N. Sombito

Division of Negros Occidental Management Team:

Marsette D. Sabbaluca
Ma. Teresa P. Geroso
Dennis G. Develos
Zaldy H. Reliquias
Raulito D. Dinaga
Dannie Clark M. Uguil
Othelo M. Beating

Regional Management Team

Ma. Gemma M. Ledesma
Josilyn S. Solana
Elena P. Gonzaga
Donald T. Genine
Rovel R. Salcedo
Moonyeen C. Rivera
Anita S. Gubalane
Minda L. Soldevilla
Daisy L. Lopez
Joseph M. Pagalaran

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Introductory Message
Welcome to Physical Science!

The Learning Activity Sheet is a product of the collaborative efforts of the

Schools Division of Negros Occidental and DepEd Regional Office VI - Western
Visayas through the Curriculum and Learning Management Division (CLMD). This is
developed to guide the learning facilitators (teachers, parents and responsible adults)
in helping the learners meet the standards set by the K to 12 Basic Education
Curriculum.

The Learning Activity Sheet is self-directed instructional materials aimed to

guide the learners in accomplishing activities at their own pace and time using the
contextualized resources in the community. This will also assist the learners in
acquiring the lifelong learning skills, knowledge and attitudes for productivity and
employment.

For learning facilitator:

The Physical Science Activity Sheet will help you facilitate the leaching-
learning activities specified in each Most Essential Learning Competency (MELC) with
minimal or no face-to-face encounter between you and learner. This will be made
available to the learners with the references/links to ease the independent learning.

For the learner:

The Physical Science Activity Sheet is developed to help you continue

learning even if you are not in school. This learning material provides you with
meaningful and engaging activities for independent learning. Being an active learner,
carefully read and understand the instructions then perform the activities and answer
the assessments. This will be returned to your facilitator on the agreed schedule.

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Name of Learner: ___________________________________________________
Grade and Section: _______________________________Date: _______________

PHYSICAL SCIENCE ACTIVITY SHEET No. 8

Photon Theory of Light

I. Learning Competency with Code

Explain how the photon concept and the fact that the energy of a photon is directly
proportional to its frequency can be used to explain why red light is used in
photographic dark rooms, why we get easily sunburned in ultraviolet light but not in
visible light, and how we see colors (S11/12PS-IVf-61).

II. Background Information for Learners

One of the important human senses is the sense of sight. With your sense of
sight, you can see how beautiful this world is. More so, almost all your activities are
dependent on your ability to see. But what really makes you see things aside from
your sense of sight? Well, it is the visible light that makes you see things around you.
Nonetheless, there is more to light than meets the eye.
At the beginning of 20th century,
scientists began doubting the wavelike
nature of light. They had found pieces of
evidence suggesting that light was not
really a wave, but more like a particle. In
1900, Max Planck introduced his
postulates to explain blackbody
radiation. A blackbody is a surface or
object that can absorb all radiation falling
on it. Planck suggested that energy comes
in discrete units called quanta. Now,
when you speak of energy being
quantized, it means that it does not exist
through a continuous range of amounts,
but as “something whole.” Stairways,
chairs, and tables are examples of Figure 1. The Photoelectric Effect (Retrieved from
quantized objects-it is not possible for https://www.physics-and-radio
electronics.com/blog/photoelectric-effect/)
these objects to have half values. You do
not say ½ (one-half) chair, instead yo say
one chair.
Scientists started to question the wave-like nature of light upon the discovery
of the photoelectric effect. The photoelectric effect is a phenomenon which
describes the way electrons are excited and emitted from matter when they absorb
the energy from light. For a while, scientists believed that the electrons were just
absorbing the energy in the light wave, and then using that energy to jump out of the
metal. The greater energy the electrons could absorb, the greater energy they could
use to jump out. However, it was not that simple.
With this, the scientists tried increasing the intensity of the lights on the metal.
They figured out that a greater light intensity would give more energy to the
electrons, making them jump from the metal to a higher energy level, but that did not

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happen at all! What happened was that the electrons were emitted at the same
energy level as before; there were just more of them. Scientists then recognized that
their theory is inaccurate, because if light was really a wave, the one that should
have increased is the energy of the electrons rather than the number of electrons.
The electrons were not absorbing energy in a way that matched the wave theory of
light. So, if light was not really a wave, then what could it be? Albert Einstein
formulated a good answer to this problem. He made use of Planck’s concept to
address the problem of the photoelectric effect. He theorized that light is composed
of bundles of wave energy called as photons, in agreement with Planck’s findings.

Photon and Its Energy

The photoelectric effect was explained by the photon theory. The theory
claims that light is a stream of moving photons. The number of photons in the stream
determines if the intensity of light - whether the light is dim or intense. A high-
intensity light has too many photons, while a low-intensity light has only a few
photons. So in analogy, it is just like saying, if there is only a single firefly (1 firefly =
1 photon), the light produced is dim. But if there are several fireflies, then a bright
light can be observed.
A photon is nearly a massless particle carrying a small amount of energy.
Photons are used to quantify or measure the amount of the energy in light and other
electromagnetic waves. Furthermore, photons carry quanta which can be transferred
to atoms and molecules when photons are absorbed. Based on the frequency of the
electromagnetic radiation, chemists can examine the different parts of an atom or
molecule's structure using different kinds of spectroscopy. With enough energy,
photons in the UV or visible ranges of the EM spectrum can excite electrons. If the
electrons go back to their ground states, photons will be given off, and the atom or
molecule will emit visible light of specific frequencies (Khan Academy, 2020).
At any particular fixed frequency, all the photons would have the same
energy. In the photoelectric effect, there is an interaction taking place between
photon and electron, in which the photon is absorbed and gives up all if its energy. A
single photon can excite only one electron at a time. When the intensity of light is
increased, then the number of photons that can interact with the electrons is also
increased, thereby ejecting a higher number of electrons. The energy given up by
each photon is a function of the frequency of the light, so at a fixed frequency, the
energy of each photon is the same, and the acquired kinetic energy of each ejected
electron is the same. In other words, the energy of electrons does not change
because the energy of the photon is still the same (Bayo-ang, et. al., 2017).
Einstein’s revolutionary idea about photons was not really confirmed for many
more decades. However, in today’s time, photons are a major component of how
light and subatomic particles are studied. Einstein suggested that light should
sometime be thought of as a particle, instead of a wave. He said that if you imagine
light to exist in little packets of energy, then all of your observations make a lot more
sense. Consider the beam of light as though it was a stream of tiny energy packets.
A single packet has a mass of zero, so it does not weigh anything, and contains a
certain amount of energy, which it can transfer to the electrons when it strikes the
metal. Einstein described the energy in a light wave as quanta of energy called
photons. Each photon has energy (E) in Joules that is related to the frequency (f) in
Hz of the light through Planck’s constant (h) with a value of 6.63 × 10–34 J∙s.
Frequency is a wave’s property, and the energy of a photon is a particle’s property.
Both frequency and the energy of a photon are related in the equation E = hf. Hence,
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it is possible to describe light in terms of a frequency (or wavelength) or in terms of a
quantity of energy. Any part of the electromagnetic spectrum can therefore be
described in terms of frequency, wavelength, or energy, which are alternative means
of describing light.

Sample Problem:
What is the energy of a photon of red light with a frequency of 4.00 x 10 14 Hz?

Given: f = 4.00 × 1014 Hz

h = 6.63 × 10–34 J∙s
Required: E=?
Equation: E = hf
1
Solution: E = (6.63 × 10–34 J∙s) (4.00 × 1014 𝑠 )
1
= (6.63 × 10–34) (4.00 × 1014) J∙s × 𝑠
𝐽𝑠
= 2.65 × 10–19 𝑠
= 2.65 × 10–19 J

Red Light in Photographic Dark Rooms

Now, focus on the visible

Table 1. Wavelength and Frequency Range of the Colors of Visible Light
portion of the EM spectrum
(refer to Table 1). Can you
identify what color has the
highest energy? What about
the color having the lowest
energy? Do you know the
reason why red light is used in
photographic dark rooms?

Using Table 1, you know that red light has the longest wavelength and lowest
frequency, while violet light has the shortest wavelength and highest frequency.
Using the relation E = hf, you can therefore say that red has the least energy and
violet has the greatest energy.
Due to photon energies, there are distinguishable differences in the
characteristics of light between the two ends of the visible spectrum. This fact
explains why red light is used in photographic darkrooms. Using red light allows
photographers to manipulate light carefully. This makes light-sensitive photographic
paper safe from being overexposed, hence the pictures will not be ruined during the
developing process.
On the other hand, dyes that absorb violet tend to fade more quickly than
those that do not, because violet light has a higher photon energy. Were you able to
notice some faded colored posters? Isn’t it that the blues and violets are the last to
fade? Well, this is because other dyes, such as red and green, absorb blue and
violet photons, the higher energies of which break up their weakly bound molecules.

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UV and Visible Light: Which is More Hazardous?

What information does the equation

E = hf tell you? It gives you the idea that a
high-frequency light has more energy than a
low-frequency light. The energy of such high
and low-frequency light can be verified by
experiment. Using Figure 2, which among
the electromagnetic waves is the most
energetic? What about the least energetic?
Gamma ray having a frequency greater than
3x1019 Hz is the most energetic EM wave,
while radiowave with a frequency of less
than 300 GHz is the least energetic. Do you
now have the idea why you get easily
sunburned in ultraviolet light but not in
visible light? Figure 2. The Electromagnetic Spectrum (Retrieved from
To know this effect, you have to https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cms/cpg15x/albums/userpics/e
consider light as a stream of photons. Each mspectrum.jpg)
photon has a certain wavelength --- photons
having shorter wavelengths (such as those of UV) have a higher energy as
compared with photons having longer wavelengths (such as those of visible light).
Since ultraviolet (UV) light has shorter wavelength than visible light, it is therefore
more damaging to your skin.

How Do You See Colors?

Now, try to look around. Isn’t it that you have a colorful and wonderful world?
Do you really know what are colors? Do you have any idea how you see these colors?
Color is a magnificent aspect of light. The colors which give much delight are
brought about by visible light which is just a small portion of the EM spectrum.
Among the waves in the EM spectrum, only the visible light can be detected by the
human eyes. Visible light waves consist of various wavelengths, and these various
wavelengths correspond to various colors as well. The wavelengths range from 700
nm at the red end of the spectrum to 400 nm at the violet end. The white light
which is described as a polychromatic light contains all wavelengths, thus, it also has
all the colors of the rainbow.
Furthermore, the constituents of the visible light can also be described in
terms of their photon energies. From red to violet, the range of photon energies is
1.63 eV to 3.26 eV, respectively. These energies are on the order of those between
outer electron shells in atoms and molecules, which means that the photons can be
absorbed by atoms and molecules. An individual photon can stimulate the retina,
such as by altering a receptor molecule that then triggers a nerve impulse. Only the
atoms or molecules that have precisely the correct quantized energy step can absorb
or emit photons. For instance, if a red photon of frequency f encounters a molecule
that has an energy step, ΔE, equal to hf, then the photon can be absorbed.
Different colors can be perceived because some colors are absorbed by
objects, while other colors are reflected or transmitted. The wavelengths that are
reflected or transmitted are the colors that you can see. This means that red flowers
absorb violet and reflect red. This also indicates that there is no energy step between

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levels in the receptor molecule equal to the red photon’s energy, but there is an
energy step for the violet.

III. Activity Proper

Activity 1: Let’s Do the Math

Young scientists, it’s time to showcase your mathematical as well as critical
thinking skills! Solve the following word problems and show your complete process
(Given-Required-Equation-Solution). Box all your final answers.
1) What is the energy of a photon of violet light with a frequency of 7.00 x 10 14
Hz?
2) What is the energy of a photon of orange light with a frequency of 5.00 x 10 -7
Hz?
3) What is the energy of a photon of blue light with a frequency of 6.50 x 1014
Hz?

Guide Questions
1) Based on the word problems that you have solved, given that the value of h is
constant, what mathematical relationship exists between the frequency and
energy of a photon?
For items 2 – 4, use the relationship that exists between the frequency and the
energy of the photon to answer the following questions.
2) Why is red light used in photographic dark rooms?
3) Why do you get easily sunburned in ultraviolet light but not in visible light?
4) How do you perceive perceive see colors?

III. Reflection

Before you proceed to your next journey, you have to get your 3-2-1 Pass by
completing the following sentence prompts.
3 things I have learned are _______________________________________
2 things I want to know more are _________________________________
1 thing I am still confused of is ___________________________________

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Exercise 1
1) Given: f = 7.00 x 1014 Hz
h = 6.63 x 10-34 J∙s
Required: E = ?
Equation: E = hf
Solution: E = (6.63 x 10-34 J∙s) (7.00 x 1014 Hz)
1
= (6.63 x 10-34) (7.00 × 1014) J∙s × 𝑠
𝐽𝑠
= 4.64 x 10–19 𝑠
= 4.64 x 10–19 J
2) Given: f = 5.00 x 10-7 Hz
h = 6.63 x 10-34 J∙s
Required: E=?
Equation: E = hf
Solution: E = (6.63 x 10-34 J∙s) (5.00 x 10-7 Hz)
1
= (6.63 x 10-34) (5.00 × 10-7) J∙s × 𝑠
𝐽𝑠
= 3.32 x 10–40 𝑠
= 3.32 x 10–40 J
3) Given: f = 6.50 x 1014 Hz
h = 6.63 x 10-34 J∙s
Required: E=?
Equation: E = hf
Solution: E = (6.63 x 10-34 J∙s) (6.50 x 1014 Hz)
1
= (6.63 x 10-34) (6.50 x 1014) J∙s × 𝑠
𝐽𝑠
= 4.31 x 10–19 𝑠
= 4.31 x 10–19 J
Answer Key IV.
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Guide Questions
1) The energy of a photon is directly proportional to its frequency. This means
that the higher the frequency of a photon, the higher is its frequency; the
lower the frequency of a photon, the lower is its energy.
2) Answers may vary. The following are the possible answers:
Since red light does not have enough photon energy to expose most black-
and-white film, it is therefore used in illuminating darkrooms where such film
is developed.
Darkrooms used red lighting to allow photographers to control light carefully,
so that light-sensitive photographic paper would not become overexposed and
ruin the pictures during the developing process.
Red light is used as it falls in the visible region of the spectrum. Has the longest
wavelength, therefore its frequency is low and by relation E = hf where E
corresponds to energy, its energy is also low, therefore, it does not affect the
photo developing process.
3) Answers may vary. The following are the possible answers:
We can get easily sunburned with ultraviolet (UV) light but not in visible
because UV has shorter wavelength, higher frequency, hence greater energy
than visible light.
4) Answers may vary. The following are the possible answers:
The absorption and reflection of light waves by various materials results in
human perception of color as follows:
 Most materials absorb light of some frequencies and reflect the rest.
 If a material absorbs a certain frequency of light, that frequency will not
be reflected, so its color will not be perceived by the observer.
 If the material does not absorb a certain frequency of light, that frequency
will be reflected, so its color will be perceived by the observer.
 If all colors of light are reflected by a material, it will appear white. If all
colors of light are absorbed by a material, it will appear black.
V. Links and Other References
Bayo-ang, R. B. et al. (2017). Physical Science for Senior High School. Quezon City.
Educational Resources Corporation

Bord, D. J., and Ostdiek, V. J. (2012). The World of Physics. Manila: Vibal Publishing
House, Inc.

Cutnell, J. D. and Johnson, K. W. (2010). Introduction to Physics. Singapore: C & E

Publishing, Inc.

Courses.lumenlearning.com. n.d. Photon Energies And The Electromagnetic

Spectrum | Physics. [online] Available at:
<https://courses.lumenlearning.com/physics/chapter/29-3-photon-energies-and-the-
electromagnetic-spectrum/> [Accessed 15 November 2020].

Frontiers for Young Minds. 2013. How Do We See Color?. [online] Available at:
<https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2013.00010> [Accessed 1 January
2021].

Hewitt, P. G. (2005). Conceptual Physics. Singapore: Pearson, Education, Inc.

Padua, A. L., and Crisostomo, R. M. (2010). Practical and Explorational Physics.

Quezon City. Vibal Publishing House, Inc.

Science Learning Hub. 2019. Colours Of Light. [online] Available at:

<https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/47-colours-of-
light#:~:text=Objects%20appear%20different%20colours%20because,that%20are%
20reflected%20or%20transmitted.&text=White%20objects%20appear%20white%20
because,so%20no%20light%20is%20reflected.> [Accessed 15 November 2020].

Silverio, A. A. (2007). Exploring Life Through Science: Physics. Quezon City: Phoenix
Publishing House, Inc.

Tillery, B. W. (1999). Physical Science. Singapore: WCB McGraw Hill