How does frequency affect energy delivery in sine wave generators?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the relationship between frequency and energy delivery in sine wave generators, particularly in the context of resistive loads. Participants explore concepts related to RMS values, energy delivery per cycle, and the implications of frequency on photon energy according to Planck's law.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant states that the RMS value of a sine wave is independent of frequency, leading to a power equation that suggests both 50 Hz and 500 Hz waves deliver the same energy over time.
  • Another participant clarifies that energy delivery is averaged over a second, indicating that while the 500 Hz wave delivers less energy per cycle, it compensates by completing more cycles in the same time frame.
  • A question is raised about the relationship between frequency and photon energy, with a participant referencing Planck's law and seeking confirmation on the energy required to create photons of different frequencies.
  • Another participant corrects the initial reference to Planck's law, explaining that while photon energy is proportional to frequency, classical electromagnetic theory relates energy to wave amplitude, suggesting that two waves of different frequencies can have the same energy if their amplitudes are adjusted accordingly.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the relationship between frequency and energy delivery in terms of RMS values and the total energy delivered over time. However, there is some contention regarding the interpretation of Planck's law and the classical understanding of energy in electromagnetic waves, indicating multiple competing views.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes assumptions about the nature of energy delivery in resistive loads and the relationship between frequency and photon energy, which may depend on specific definitions and contexts not fully explored in the thread.

jainabhs
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Consider following:
The RMS value of any sine wave is Ampiltude/sqrt 2. It is independent of frequency.
So consider two sine wave generators, one generates at 50 Hz and the other one generates at 500Hz. Both have same amplitude A for volt wave and B for current wave. Consider same pure resistive load connected to both.
The power equation for both would be Vrms.Irms = AB/2.

Que1. Is this per wave cycle or per second ?

Que2. Is it correct that the 500Hz wave will deliver same energy as 50 Hz in 10 times
LESSER time per cycle??


Thanks in advance.
 
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jainabhs said:
Que1. Is this per wave cycle or per second ?

It's per second, averaged over an integer number of cycles.

Que2. Is it correct that the 500Hz wave will deliver same energy as 50 Hz in 10 times
LESSER time per cycle??

Both waves deliver the same energy in the same amount of time (e.g. one second). The 500Hz wave delivers 1/10 the energy as the 50Hz wave per cycle, but the 500Hz wave makes 10 times the number of cycles as the 50Hz wave during the same amount of time, so the total energy is the same for both.
 
Thank you very much jtbell,
Just one more thing to confirm.
According to Planck's law, we need higher min energy to create one photon of high frequency than to create one for low frequencies, right?


Thanks.
 
Planck's Law is the distribution of emitted radiation of a black-body radiator at a given temperature. It is not the energy of a photon, I believe that was first given by Einstein in his photoelectric paper of 1905. But yes, the energy of a photon is directly proportional to its frequency, the higher the frequency, the higher the energy of the photon. This does not mean that if I have an electromagnetic wave that is of frequency 500 MHz and one of 50 Hz that the 500 MHz wave is of higher energy. Classical EM relates energy to be proportional to the amplitude of the waves. So, given two waves of differing frequencies but the same energy (classical), then the difference is that the higher frequency waves have fewer photons being emitted per unit time.
 
Ok, I got that. Thanks.

Born2bwire said:
So, given two waves of differing frequencies but the same energy (classical), then the difference is that the higher frequency waves have fewer photons being emitted per unit time.

This is exactly what I wanted to confirm.

Thanks again.
 

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