From kilometre-long radio waves to gamma rays smaller than an atom, the whole electromagnetic spectrum is one continuum travelling at one speed, c. Drag the wavelength slider or hit a preset and watch the band, frequency and photon energy update through c = fλ and E = hc/λ.
Radio waves and gamma rays are the same phenomenon separated only by scale, and this simulator lets you sweep across the whole range with a single move. Drag the wavelength slider λ from roughly 100 km down to one picometre and watch the band name, frequency, photon energy in eV, and energy in joules update together. The preset buttons jump you straight to familiar landmarks: FM radio, a microwave oven, visible green, X-ray, and gamma. Every point along the scale obeys the same rule, because all electromagnetic waves travel at one fixed speed in a vacuum, c = 2.998 × 108 m/s, no matter their frequency.
That constant speed links wavelength and frequency through c = fλ, so f = c/λ: shorten the wavelength and the frequency climbs. Photon energy follows directly, E = hf = hc/λ, using Planck's constant h = 6.626 × 10-34 J·s. Reading the slider from long to short, the bands run radio, microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X-ray, gamma, with energy rising the whole way. Visible light occupies only a thin strip near 380 to 700 nm, a sliver of the full range.
The exam trap is brightness. A photon's energy is set by its frequency, not by how intense the source looks; a brighter green lamp emits more photons, each carrying identical energy. Check the numbers with the Photon Energy calculator and the Wave Speed calculator, then explore more with our interactive labs.
It is the full range of electromagnetic waves, ordered by wavelength and frequency: radio, microwave, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays. All are the same kind of wave, differing only in wavelength.
In a vacuum, yes — every band travels at the speed of light, c = 2.998 x 10^8 m/s, regardless of frequency. Wavelength and frequency are linked by c = f times lambda.
By E = hc/lambda, where h is Planck's constant. Shorter wavelengths mean higher frequencies and higher photon energy, so gamma rays carry far more energy per photon than radio waves.
No. Brightness sets the number of photons, not their energy. A brighter source of the same colour emits more photons, each carrying exactly the same energy.