Can Quanta Change Color? Exploring the Possibilities and Limitations

In summary, the conversation discusses the concept of photons changing color or energy in transit, specifically in the context of red-shifted photons. It is explained that while different observers may perceive the energy of a photon differently, the actual energy of the photon remains constant. Red-shifted photons are also mentioned, with some participants questioning how a single photon can lose energy and change frequency, but no definitive answer is given. Overall, the conversation highlights the complexities and paradoxes surrounding the behavior of photons.
  • #1
cubed
8
0
I want a yes or no answer and a short explanation. o:)
 
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  • #2
hello, anyone there?
 
  • #3
please

someone just please tell...
just say yes or no...
I need to know badly... :frown:
 
  • #4
Why? What color are they normally?
 
  • #5
First, a caveat. A photon can be emitted, a photon can be absorbed. In between, you cannot measure the energy of the photon to see whether or not it can change - if you do, that's an absorption event and that same photon cannot be said to be observed again.

But other than that, no I don't think so. Different observers may well disagree on what the photon energy is, but a given photon of that energy will not change in transit to anyone observer.

An observer at rest relative to a monochromatic light source will say that the source is emitting photons at a constant energy. A second moving with constant velocity away from the source will agree that it is emitting photons at a constant energy, but will disagree on what that energy is. A third observer accelerating away from the source will say the source is emitting photons of lower and lower energies. None are wrong, none are right. But this can't be explained by a photon changing colour in transit, as the photon would have to know which observer was going to observe it.
 
  • #6
El Hombre Invisible said:
First, a caveat. A photon can be emitted, a photon can be absorbed. In between, you cannot measure the energy of the photon to see whether or not it can change - if you do, that's an absorption event and that same photon cannot be said to be observed again.

But other than that, no I don't think so. Different observers may well disagree on what the photon energy is, but a given photon of that energy will not change in transit to anyone observer.

An observer at rest relative to a monochromatic light source will say that the source is emitting photons at a constant energy. A second moving with constant velocity away from the source will agree that it is emitting photons at a constant energy, but will disagree on what that energy is. A third observer accelerating away from the source will say the source is emitting photons of lower and lower energies. None are wrong, none are right. But this can't be explained by a photon changing colour in transit, as the photon would have to know which observer was going to observe it.

A very good answer, but what about Red-shifted photons? Now they DO change energy as they get stretched out. That's why the Microwave background radiation consists of microwaves, rather than the high energy photons that they originally were.

I posted a question on PF a year or so ago about where this energy went and there was some good discussion, but I never really got to grips with where actually it went. It is 'spread out over a larger spacetime' I suppose, but that is hard to put into context with the equation E=hf
 
  • #7
cubed said:
I want a yes or no answer and a short explanation. o:)

do you mean colour-charge or are you referring to colour as being the visible range of the EM energy spectrum. The first is changed by the strong force (respecting colour neutrality at all times) and the second is changed by Doppler-effect and friends :)

marlon

ps YES is the answer
 
  • #8
The Compton effect shifts the frequency/energy of the photons,too.

Usually,the Doppler-FIZEAU (the "Doppler effect" is a name for the frequency shift of sound waves in the presence of Galilean boosts) is interpreted in terms of electromagnetic waves and not photons.Surely,one can discuss it for photons,but,back in ~1860,there were no such thing as photons,there was only LIGHT...

Daniel.

Daniel.
 
  • #9
Adrian Baker said:
A very good answer, but what about Red-shifted photons? Now they DO change energy as they get stretched out. That's why the Microwave background radiation consists of microwaves, rather than the high energy photons that they originally were.
Does a single photon get red-shifted? How can you say a photon measured as being at the red end was emitted nearer the blue end? Also, how does a possibly dimensionless particle get 'stretched'? I don't know - I'm asking (these aren't loaded questions). To my knowledge, photons from background radiation measured as microwaves would always have been measured as microwaves in that same reference frame. Of course, those frames would not have necessarily have been feasible back when the background radiation was bluer, but that's cosmology for you.
 
  • #10
El Hombre Invisible said:
Does a single photon get red-shifted? how does a dimensionless particle get 'stretched'?
Chalk this one up to another Physics / QM paradox that just isn’t answered. From the Hubble expansion we can see how Red Shift occurs using wave theory but explaining it for an individual particle, a photon. How can it lose energy and change frequency as measured by observers in the same reference frame but separated by distance with expansion?

We can measure it. We can mathematically predict it. We can even describe it as “stretching” a partial. But that doesn’t explain it any better than we can explain entanglement or young’s double slit.
I’ll have to add this to my list of paradox’s to be answered.

RB
 
  • #11
RandallB said:
We can measure it. We can mathematically predict it. We can even describe it as “stretching” a particle. But that doesn’t explain it any better than we can explain entanglement or young’s double slit.
I’ll have to add this to my list of paradox’s to be answered.

RB
It has been top of my list for a long time RandallB. Glad I'm not on my own! :smile:
 
  • #12
RandallB said:
How can it lose energy and change frequency as measured by observers in the same reference frame but separated by distance with expansion?
RB

It doesn't. There's just a rule of thumb that galaxies at a larger distance have
a higher velocity relative to us.

[tex] f_{redshifted}\ \ =\ \ \sqrt{\frac{c-v}{c+v}}\cdot f[/tex]

Regards, Hans
 
  • #13
Hans de Vries said:
It doesn't. There's just a rule of thumb that galaxies at a larger distance have
a higher velocity relative to us.

[tex] f_{redshifted}\ \ =\ \ \sqrt{\frac{c-v}{c+v}}\cdot f[/tex]

Regards, Hans

But the photons we receive DO have lower frequencies than when they set out... otherwise we couldn't measure red shift! If the frequency is lower, the energy is lower... How does your reply explain this?
:confused:
 
  • #14
Adrian Baker said:
But the photons we receive DO have lower frequencies than when they set out... otherwise we couldn't measure red shift! If the frequency is lower, the energy is lower... How does your reply explain this?
:confused:
I think if you stick to what we can actually say for sure, you'd find that a hard statement to back up. You cannot measure the energy of a photon that is being emitted - only one being absorbed - i.e. by you and whatever you're detecting it with. That photon energy might have been measured differently by someone in a difference frame of reference (one in which the galaxy was getting closer or at rest, rather than receding). If you take the view that the photon you measure has the exact same energy as the photon emitted, IN THE SAME FRAME OF REFERENCE, it becomes less paradoxical. I think.
 
  • #15
Hans de Vries said:
It doesn't. There's just a rule of thumb that galaxies at a larger distance have a higher velocity relative to us.

[tex] f_{redshifted}\ \ =\ \ \sqrt{\frac{c-v}{c+v}}\cdot f[/tex]
No Hans I think your missing the point of the Paradox.
Red Shift is explained by E X P A N S I O N the word the same just gotten bigger because the space between the letters has gotten larger.
Expansion is important because we see Red Shifts that seem to show thinks traveling faster than light. But with expansion they don’t go FTL. It’s just over great distances and the extra time it takes to cover the expanded space makes it seem like the source was moving FTL.
With Expansion, (Hubble etc.) in hand and using WAVE theory, we can explain how Red Shift is occurring.

BUT when we look at the individual photon, which must lose energy to shift Red it no so clear how that happens. That's the Paradox.

Therefore I'm not 100% OK with idea of expansion itself.

Like I said - sure something to work on.
RB
 
  • #16
RandallB said:
Red Shift is explained by E X P A N S I O N the word the same just gotten bigger because the space between the letters has gotten larger.

OK, but if it's a GR thing (cosmological redshift versus doppler redshift) then
you shouldn't talk about "In the same reference frame" The concept reference
frame gets lost in General Relativity. And, as far as I now, Energy is not
conserved in General Relativity at least not without an adaptation of the
definition of Energy.

John Baez has a lot of good stuf on GR on the web, for instance:

http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Relativity/GR/energy_gr.html

This link handles the cosmological redshift as well.

Regards, Hans.
 
  • #17
El Hombre Invisible said:
I think if you stick to what we can actually say for sure, you'd find that a hard statement to back up. You cannot measure the energy of a photon that is being emitted - only one being absorbed - i.e. by you and whatever you're detecting it with. That photon energy might have been measured differently by someone in a difference frame of reference (one in which the galaxy was getting closer or at rest, rather than receding). If you take the view that the photon you measure has the exact same energy as the photon emitted, IN THE SAME FRAME OF REFERENCE, it becomes less paradoxical. I think.

I still think not. If you look at line spectra from distant Galaxies, all of the spectral lines are at lower frequencies than they should be. As these Spectral lines correspond to energy levels between atomic orbitals, either the atoms are lower in distant galaxies, OR the photon frequencies have changed.
As atoms should be the same everywhere (we have no evidence to contradict this) the photons MUST have been emitted at one frequency and absorbed at another. Of course, relativistically speaking, the photon was emitted and absorbed at the same instant (from the photon's frame of reference), but the energy level changes.

That is the paradox that I have never yet had a satisfactory answer to...

______________________________________________________________-


I posted this before seeing your last post Hans - sorry. I followed your suggested link and had a read. I'm sure the answer is there, but my Physics knowledge just isn't up to understanding it... Seems like I'll not be able to get a 'simplistic' answer to my query. :rolleyes:
 
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  • #18
Two observers, one source of photons.

Observer A is a loooooong way from the source C, but remains at rest relative to it throughout the experiment. Observer B starts very near the source and moves towards A throughout the experiment. In the meantime, both are detecting photons from the source C.

A will observe no redshift - he knows that C is emitting photons with the same energy that he is observing them with. B, on the other hand, does observe redshift because he is moving away from the source of the photons. If B is accelerating towards A, he will see the redshift increase (the photon energies decrease) as he approaches A.

If you agree with this, you will see that it is the idea of photons 'changing colour' that is the paradox, as by the time B reaches A, both will be observing photons that have traveled the same path. If photon energies decreased between C and A, why would A not observe the lower energies? This is because in B's frame of reference, the photons being EMITTED are redder than they are in A's frame of reference.

Here the experiment is about the motion of bodies rather than the expansion of space in between them, but the same principal holds.
 
  • #19
Adrian Baker said:
I still think not. If you look at line spectra from distant Galaxies, all of the spectral lines are at lower frequencies than they should be. As these Spectral lines correspond to energy levels between atomic orbitals, either the atoms are lower in distant galaxies, OR the photon frequencies have changed.
As atoms should be the same everywhere (we have no evidence to contradict this) the photons MUST have been emitted at one frequency and absorbed at another. Of course, relativistically speaking, the photon was emitted and absorbed at the same instant (from the photon's frame of reference), but the energy level changes.

That is the paradox that I have never yet had a satisfactory answer to...

______________________________________________________________-


I posted this before seeing your last post Hans - sorry. I followed your suggested link and had a read. I'm sure the answer is there, but my Physics knowledge just isn't up to understanding it... Seems like I'll not be able to get a 'simplistic' answer to my query. :rolleyes:

Here's where the "problem" lies.

You are using the atomic energy levels calculated using non-relativistic QM. Implicitly, such calculations will work if you and the atom are in the same rest frame. However, you then use that same energy level and tried to do energy conservation in a different frame. Now we already know this will lead into a lot of problems even in classical mechanics (an object is stationary in one, and moving in the other, so where did the extra KE came from?)

What you should have done is to doppler shift the whole atom, and THEN, recalculate the apparent energy level in your frame. When you do this, the coulombic potential that you put into the Schrodinger equation will be shifted also (it is, after all, an EM property). You will find that the energy level is not the same good old level that you got in the rest frame.

Zz.
 
  • #20
Hans de Vries said:
OK, but if it's a GR thing (cosmological redshift versus doppler redshift) then you shouldn't talk about "In the same reference frame" The concept reference frame gets lost in General Relativity.
But Hans
It’s GR, cosmological red shift, Hubble expansion, that depend on "In the same reference frame" to keep from producing nonsense FTL events.
Let’s use El Hombre’s example:
Two observers, one source of photons.
Observer A is a loooooong way from the source C, but remains at rest relative to it throughout the experiment. Observer B starts very near the source and moves towards A throughout the experiment. In the meantime, both are detecting photons from the source C.

A will observe no redshift - he knows that C is emitting photons with the same energy that he is observing them with.:
This can only be true if we ignore Hubble for that “a loooooong way from the source C” comment. So let us insert the source of CBR here! Since we see a major red shift this source must not be in our reference frame, right. Just a little math should show us just how fast that frame is moving, SR should do. It the answer is, FTL! And way Faster Then Light.
Now this will never do, how can we have FTL!
That’s where GR, Hubble, and Expansion sort’s it out. The point here is that the CRB Source and us as observer A are both in pretty much the same reference frame, therefore no FTL. How to account for the huge Red Shift with no FTL? With the magic of “expansion” between the source C to the observer A. Now frequency of the light has reduced considerable, undisputed and well observed. Easily understood using Wave thinking in the large Cosmos.

But now when El H and Adrian want to think about a individual photon to understand it all, things get a little uneasy. Sure, If you want use ZapperZ’s idea, where you need “to doppler shift the whole atom, and THEN, recalculate the apparent energy level” or in our case the photon.
Problem with that is applying a “doppler shift” to a individual photon is treating it like a wave, so although it might work in the math, for me it is far short of an explanation.
So what does this mean?
It means we have a PARADOX!
Not some wimpy “Twins Paradox” that can be answered. (Therfore NOT a Paradox)
But a real honest to goodness Paradox, (There are more Young’s double slit, etc.) a puzzle where you don't get to look at the end of the book to find a satisfactory solution.

RB

RB
 
  • #21
RandallB said:
So what does this mean?
It means we have a PARADOX!
Not some wimpy “Twins Paradox” that can be answered. (Therfore NOT a Paradox)
But a real honest to goodness Paradox, (There are more Young’s double slit, etc.) a puzzle where you don't get to look at the end of the book to find a satisfactory solution.

RB

Where do you see a paradox? Is it so complicated to apply the lorentz transformation between different frames?
Why do you want to complicate and invoke GR to explain a simple doppler effect and the difference of energy between 2 frames?

Seratend.
 
  • #22
RandallB said:
But Hans
It’s GR, cosmological red shift, Hubble expansion, that depend on "In the same reference frame" to keep from producing nonsense FTL events.
RB

As far as I can see Space is expanding and EM waves (photons) are expanding
but, galaxies, stars and atoms keep the same size in the explanation of cosmological
redshift. (They just get farther apart)

Would the logical explanation not be that the latter continuously shrink back,
after expanding with space, to their original size which is determined by an
equilibrium of forces.

Photons can't shrink back since there is nothing what attracts the front to
the back. Moreover, no information/force from the back can ever reach the
front because it moves with c.

Regards, Hans.
 
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  • #23
seratend said:
Where do you see a paradox?
Right here:
Hans de Vries said:
As far as I can see ... EM waves (photons) are expanding
I agree a perfectly good and acceptable view. EXCEPT that El H & Adrian are looking at a particle view of the photon and that works fine most of expansion until they get down to looking at just the photon as a particle. There the logic breaks down and is only resolved by suddenly saying “lets let the particle expand too".
What to expand if not a wave? You have a drawing of this particle, is it made of quarks? What kind of math other than a wave interpretation can you do this with?

If the only way to understand it is to switch between wave and particle views, then it is just not a complete understanding, nor a complete explanation.
That’s not to say an incomplete understanding is not useful, I think on the whole we’ve done quite well at working most things out form nuclear to cosmic level even with this Paradox unresolved.

So I’m OK with keeping the paradox as a paradox,
without using some kind of Meta-Physics, or Psycho-Physics just to rationalize it away.

RB
 
  • #24
For the love of...

RandallB said:
Right here:

I agree a perfectly good and acceptable view. EXCEPT that El H & Adrian are looking at a particle view of the photon and that works fine most of expansion until they get down to looking at just the photon as a particle. There the logic breaks down and is only resolved by suddenly saying “lets let the particle expand too".
What to expand if not a wave? You have a drawing of this particle, is it made of quarks? What kind of math other than a wave interpretation can you do this with?
There is no problem looking at the photon as a particle when dealing with redshift, and there is no paradox. When people say a photon has been redshifted from when it A) left the source to when it B) arrived at the observer, they are naturally measuring the photon energy at A) in a frame of reference in which A is at rest and measuring the photon energy at B) in the frame of reference in which B) is at rest. There is no paradox. Photon energies, like kinetic energy, mass energy, etc, will change when viewed from different frames.

Are you holding out for a paradox perhaps because you have some preference for the wave model?
 
  • #25
El Hombre Invisible said:
Are you holding out for a paradox perhaps because you have some preference for the wave model?
No just a truly honest view of a particle model without forcing in a wave view.
RB
 
  • #26
Well, you don't need the wave view at all to explain redshift in photons. It's just relativity.
 
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  • #27
Thanks for a a great discussion about something that has puzzled me for such a long time. I get it now! (I think). I really hadn't thought about the frame of reference properly and this is, as is made clear, why I just didn't get it.

Thanks! :smile:
 
  • #28
El Hombre Invisible said:
Well, you don't need the wave view at all to explain redshift in photons. It's just relativity.
Really??
Let's take another look, Take an individual photon particle from the CMB. Given we know it started off very Blue with a high energy (In wave talk, that means high frequency). Now that it has reached us, it is very Red, down into the microwave frequency band, better stated as a particle with lower energy. Still moving at the same speed of c, we might even say the particle has a lower ‘apparent mass’ based on E=mcc.

The starting point and our observing point can be seen as roughly the same reference frame as understood by Hubble and expansion – I.E. we don’t get to claim FTL as an explanation for overly large red shift wave of particle view, expansion applies.

Now as we look at this photon particle without regard to where or when the on ahead or behind it may be, this one has a lower than original energy that needs to be explained.

Best explanation I saw was Zapper Z: “.. doppler shift the whole atom(photon), and THEN, recalculate the apparent energy”
Two ways to do this:
Conceptually just, stretch out the size of the individual photon particle (vs. atom) like the wave ring from dropping a stone in a smooth pool of water.
OR, use the doppler frequency change ratio figured from a wave view and just jam it into a formula to refigure and adjust the individual photon energy change over time or distance.

I’ll agree both give good answers but still a wave view for both. So I’m not holding out to find a Paradox here, I agree with the top people in physics that acknowledge that particle vs. wave duality is unresolved and already is a paradox.

So no, I don’t see where SR & GR alone will do here.

RB
 
  • #29
Given we know it started off very Blue with a high energy (In wave talk, that means high frequency). Now that it has reached us, it is very Red

I think this might be the source of your problem. It doesn't matter that the photon started off very far away from us, the red shift is due to the fact that the emitting atom was at a high velocity relative to us. If the photon was emitted in the next room by an atom at the same velocity you would see the same redshift, the distance is immaterial.

Since Hubble says all galaxies are moving away from us with velocities proportional to their displacements, we end up with photons from distant galaxies being more redshifted, but this isn't the source of the effect. El hombre's explanation was spot on.
 
  • #30
RandallB said:
Best explanation I saw was Zapper Z: “.. doppler shift the whole atom(photon), and THEN, recalculate the apparent energy”
Two ways to do this:
Conceptually just, stretch out the size of the individual photon particle (vs. atom) like the wave ring from dropping a stone in a smooth pool of water.
OR, use the doppler frequency change ratio figured from a wave view and just jam it into a formula to refigure and adjust the individual photon energy change over time or distance.

You may have agreed with what I said, but I don't think you understood what it is.

Take an atom. Doppler shift it. When you do that and remeasure the potential energy of that system that you have to put in the hamiltonian, it isn't the same spherical potential well that you normally see. The energy eigenvalues (if one can calculate such a thing in closed form) will not be the same ones you get from before. This will be the doppler-shifted energy state corresponding to the doppler-photons that one observed. It has NOTHING to do with "photon stretching", etc. A photon isn't defined by its size, and certainly was NEVER defined by its longitudinal size.

Zz.
 
  • #31
RandallB said:
Take an individual photon particle from the CMB. Given we know it started off very Blue with a high energy (In wave talk, that means high frequency). Now that it has reached us, it is very Red, down into the microwave frequency band, better stated as a particle with lower energy. Still moving at the same speed of c, we might even say the particle has a lower ‘apparent mass’ based on E=mcc.
This really does seem to be the part you're stumbling over. The photon being emitted from whatever distant galaxy it came from has the exact same photon energy we measure it as in our frame of reference. Viewing it from one frame of reference alone, the photon does not 'change colour' between emission and absorption. The change is due to change of reference frames alone. We look at stars of a similar size closer to us and measure 'bluer' light, and know then that the light from the more distant star has been red-shifted. But the frame in which the closer star is at rest (in which we could accurately measure the energy of the emitted photon) is NOT the same frame as that in which the more distant star is at rest.
It is due to this change of reference frame that the photon energies appear to change. In reality, in our reference frame (i.e. the one in which we are at rest), the photons emitted from stars AT ANY DISTANCE have the same energy that we measure them at. A microwave photon detected by us in a given frame coming from a distant galaxy was emitted as a microwave photon in that frame. It does not change.
 
  • #32
ZapperZ said:
Doppler shift it. When you do that and remeasure ... in the hamiltonian, it isn't the same ... NOTHING to do with "photon stretching", etc. A photon isn't defined by its size ...
You can dress it up with all the math you want, but to "Doppler Shift" any part of a “particle“, stretching & changing the energy, then you are selectively treating that part of it like a wave. Just because you define the rules to say you can not stretch a point particle and then mathematically go ahead and stretch it anyway does not give you the right to claim a particle view only analysis of the event.

In my opinion a complete particle view only explanation has yet to be done here, no more than it has been done for Young’s double slit without inserting the uncertainty principle to stand in for not using waves.

RB
 
  • #33
RandallB said:
You can dress it up with all the math you want, but to "Doppler Shift" any part of a “particle“, stretching & changing the energy, then you are selectively treating that part of it like a wave. Just because you define the rules to say you can not stretch a point particle and then mathematically go ahead and stretch it anyway does not give you the right to claim a particle view only analysis of the event.

In my opinion a complete particle view only explanation has yet to be done here, no more than it has been done for Young’s double slit without inserting the uncertainty principle to stand in for not using waves.

RB

I'm not dressing it up with the math, because the WHOLE thing started with the hamiltonian in the first place! So how can you dismiss it as being nothing but mathematical dressing? The energy level of an atom IS an agreement between the hamiltonian and the experimental observation. If not, you know NOTHING about the kind of atom that is emitting so-and-so spectra.

It is also definitely a lot more valid to deal with rather than a "handwaving" argument of "stretching" that is not based on ANY physics. Can you give an exact citation where such a thing has been described and formulated?

Furthermore, I was explaining why you were "bastardizing" what I mentioned earlier. It had nothing to do with what you had in mind. It certainly does not contain any "stretching" effects of any photons, thank you. If you wish to do such a thing, you cannot piggyback onto what I have described. You will have to make things up on your own.

Zz.
 
  • #34
Substitute the words "Doppler shift" for "Lorentz transform". You can now use all the above arguments without ever needing to refer to a wave.
 
  • #35
Guys, I’m not the one stretching anything,
But using “Doppler Shift” or "Lorentz transform" on a point particle IS.
I’m not saying you don’t get accurate answers or good predictions. Just that is not a clean and complete purely particle view.
If you don’t see that, then your not seeing the forest for all the trees in the way.

RB
 
<h2>1. Can quanta change color?</h2><p>Yes, quanta can change color. Quanta, or particles of light, can change color through a process called absorption and emission. When a quanta of light is absorbed by an atom, it can cause the electrons in the atom to jump to a higher energy level. When these electrons fall back to their original energy level, they emit a quanta of light with a different wavelength, resulting in a change of color.</p><h2>2. What factors can affect the color change of quanta?</h2><p>The color change of quanta can be affected by various factors such as the type of material the quanta interact with, the energy level of the electrons in the material, and the wavelength of the absorbed light. Additionally, the temperature and pressure of the environment can also play a role in the color change of quanta.</p><h2>3. Is there a limit to how much a quanta can change color?</h2><p>Yes, there is a limit to how much a quanta can change color. This is because the energy levels of electrons in atoms are discrete, meaning they can only exist at specific energy levels and cannot have any values in between. Therefore, the color change of a quanta is limited by the available energy levels of the electrons in the material it interacts with.</p><h2>4. Can quanta change color without interacting with a material?</h2><p>No, quanta cannot change color without interacting with a material. The process of absorption and emission requires the interaction between a quanta and an atom or molecule in a material. Without this interaction, there is no way for the quanta to change its color.</p><h2>5. Are there any practical applications for the color-changing abilities of quanta?</h2><p>Yes, there are practical applications for the color-changing abilities of quanta. One example is in the development of color-changing materials, such as thermochromic or photochromic materials, which can change color in response to changes in temperature or light. This technology has various applications in fields such as textiles, sensors, and displays.</p>

1. Can quanta change color?

Yes, quanta can change color. Quanta, or particles of light, can change color through a process called absorption and emission. When a quanta of light is absorbed by an atom, it can cause the electrons in the atom to jump to a higher energy level. When these electrons fall back to their original energy level, they emit a quanta of light with a different wavelength, resulting in a change of color.

2. What factors can affect the color change of quanta?

The color change of quanta can be affected by various factors such as the type of material the quanta interact with, the energy level of the electrons in the material, and the wavelength of the absorbed light. Additionally, the temperature and pressure of the environment can also play a role in the color change of quanta.

3. Is there a limit to how much a quanta can change color?

Yes, there is a limit to how much a quanta can change color. This is because the energy levels of electrons in atoms are discrete, meaning they can only exist at specific energy levels and cannot have any values in between. Therefore, the color change of a quanta is limited by the available energy levels of the electrons in the material it interacts with.

4. Can quanta change color without interacting with a material?

No, quanta cannot change color without interacting with a material. The process of absorption and emission requires the interaction between a quanta and an atom or molecule in a material. Without this interaction, there is no way for the quanta to change its color.

5. Are there any practical applications for the color-changing abilities of quanta?

Yes, there are practical applications for the color-changing abilities of quanta. One example is in the development of color-changing materials, such as thermochromic or photochromic materials, which can change color in response to changes in temperature or light. This technology has various applications in fields such as textiles, sensors, and displays.

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