Enter the wavelength and frequency of a photon into the calculator. The calculator will display the total energy of that photon.

Energy of a Photon Formula

The following equation can be used to calculate the energy of a particular photon.

E = h * c / λ = h * f
  • E is the energy of a photon
  • h is the Planck constant, (6.6261 × 10−34 J*s)
  • c is the speed of light, (299 792 458 m / s)
  • λ is the wavelength of a photon,
  • f is the frequency of a photon.

Photon Energy Definition

Photon energy is defined as the total kinetic energy contained within one photon of light.

How to calculate photon energy?

How to calculate photon energy

  1. First, determine the wavelength

    This will be the wavelength of the path the photon is traveling.

  2. Next, determine the frequency of the photon

    This will be the frequency of the wavelength from step 1.

  3. Calculate

    Calculate the energy of the photon using the wavelength and frequency along with the Planck constant (6.6261 × 10−34 J*s) and speed of light. (299 792 458 m / s). Just plug all 4 pieces of information into the formula above.

FAQ

What is photon energy?

Photon Energy is the total kinetic energy a particular photon has. Energy typically is measured in joules on smaller scales, but photons are so minuscule that they use units designed for even smaller scales like the electronvolt.