Which of the following colors of visible light has less energy than green light?

• A. Violet
• B. Blue
• C. Yellow
• D. Red

Answer: (D)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Recall that the energy of visible light is related to its wavelength and frequency. The energy of a photon is given by the equation \(E = h \nu\), where \(E\) is energy, \(h\) is Planck's constant, and \(\nu\) (nu) is the frequency of the light.
2. Understand that frequency \(\nu\) and wavelength \(\lambda\) are inversely related by the speed of light \(c\), through the equation \(\nu = \frac{c}{\lambda}\). Therefore, light with a longer wavelength has a lower frequency and thus lower energy.
3. Identify the relative positions of the colors in the visible spectrum: violet has the shortest wavelength (highest energy), followed by blue, green, yellow, and red having the longest wavelength (lowest energy).
4. Since green light has a certain wavelength, any color with a longer wavelength than green will have less energy. Among the options given (violet, blue, yellow), yellow has a longer wavelength than green, but red has an even longer wavelength than yellow and green.
5. Therefore, the color with less energy than green light must have a longer wavelength than green, which is red. This explains why red light has less energy than green light.