Editing Light (section)

==Electromagnetic spectrum and visible light==
[[File:EM spectrum.svg|thumb|380px|The [[electromagnetic spectrum]], with the [[visible spectrum|visible portion]] highlighted. The bottom graph (Visible spectrum) is wavelength in units of nanometres (nm).]]
{{Main|Electromagnetic spectrum}}

Generally, [[electromagnetic radiation]] (EMR) is classified by wavelength into [[radio wave]]s, [[microwave]]s, [[infrared]], the [[visible spectrum]] that we perceive as light, [[ultraviolet]], [[X-ray]]s and [[gamma ray]]s. The designation "[[radiation]]" excludes [[Static electricity|static electric]], [[Magnetic field|magnetic]] and [[near and far field|near fields]].

The behavior of EMR depends on its wavelength. Higher frequencies have shorter wavelengths and lower frequencies have longer wavelengths. When EMR interacts with single atoms and molecules, its behavior depends on the amount of energy per quantum it carries.

EMR in the visible light region consists of [[quantum|quanta]] (called [[photon]]s) that are at the lower end of the energies that are capable of causing electronic excitation within molecules, which leads to changes in the bonding or chemistry of the molecule. At the lower end of the visible light spectrum, EMR becomes invisible to humans (infrared) because its photons no longer have enough individual energy to cause a lasting molecular change (a change in conformation) in the visual molecule [[retinal]] in the human retina, which change triggers the sensation of vision.

There exist animals that are sensitive to various types of infrared, but not by means of quantum-absorption. [[Infrared sensing in snakes]] depends on a kind of natural [[thermal imaging]], in which tiny packets of cellular water are raised in temperature by the infrared radiation. EMR in this range causes molecular vibration and heating effects, which is how these animals detect it.

Above the range of visible light, ultraviolet light becomes invisible to humans, mostly because it is absorbed by the cornea below 360 [[nanometer|nm]] and the internal lens below 400&nbsp;nm. Furthermore, the [[rod cell|rods]] and [[cone cell|cones]] located in the [[retina]] of the human eye cannot detect the very short (below 360&nbsp;nm) ultraviolet wavelengths and are in fact damaged by ultraviolet. Many animals with eyes that do not require lenses (such as insects and shrimp) are able to detect ultraviolet, by quantum photon-absorption mechanisms, in much the same chemical way that humans detect visible light.

Various sources define visible light as narrowly as 420–680&nbsp;nm<ref>{{cite book |last=Laufer |first=Gabriel |chapter=Geometrical Optics |title=Introduction to Optics and Lasers in Engineering |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4MxLPYMS5TUC&pg=PA11 |access-date=20 October 2013 |year= 1996 |isbn=978-0-521-45233-5 |page=11|doi=10.1017/CBO9781139174190.004 |bibcode=1996iole.book.....L }}</ref><ref name="Bradt2004">{{cite book |last=Bradt |first=Hale |title=Astronomy Methods: A Physical Approach to Astronomical Observations |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hp7vyaGvhLMC&pg=PA26 |access-date=20 October 2013 |year=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-53551-9 |page=26}}</ref> to as broadly as 380–800&nbsp;nm.<ref name="OhannesianStreeter2001">{{cite book |last1=Ohannesian |first1=Lena |last2=Streeter |first2=Anthony |title=Handbook of Pharmaceutical Analysis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DwPb4wgqseYC&pg=PA187 |access-date=20 October 2013 |year=2001 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-0-8247-4194-5 |page=187}}</ref><ref name="AhluwaliaGoyal2000">{{cite book |last1=Ahluwalia |first1=V.K. |last2=Goyal |first2=Madhuri |title=A Textbook of Organic Chemistry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tJNJnn0M75MC&pg=PA110 |access-date=20 October 2013 |year= 2000 |publisher=Narosa |isbn=978-81-7319-159-6 |page=110}}</ref> Under ideal laboratory conditions, people can see infrared up to at least 1,050&nbsp;nm;<ref name="Sliney1976">{{cite journal |last1=Sliney |first1=David H. |last2=Wangemann |first2=Robert T. |last3=Franks |first3=James K. |last4=Wolbarsht |first4=Myron L. |year=1976 |title=Visual sensitivity of the eye to infrared laser radiation |journal=[[Journal of the Optical Society of America]] |volume=66 |issue=4 |pages=339–341 |doi=10.1364/JOSA.66.000339 |pmid=1262982 |quote=The foveal sensitivity to several near-infrared laser wavelengths was measured. It was found that the eye could respond to radiation at wavelengths at least as far as 1,064 nm. A continuous 1,064 nm laser source appeared red, but a 1,060 nm pulsed laser source appeared green, which suggests the presence of second harmonic generation in the retina. |bibcode=1976JOSA...66..339S }}</ref> children and young adults may perceive ultraviolet wavelengths down to about 310–313&nbsp;nm.<ref name="LynchLivingston2001">{{cite book |last1=Lynch |first1=David K. |last2=Livingston |first2=William Charles |title=Color and Light in Nature |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Abp5FdhskAC&pg=PA231 |access-date=12 October 2013 |edition=2nd |year=2001 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-77504-5 |page=231 |quote=Limits of the eye's overall range of sensitivity extends from about 310 to 1,050 nanometers |archive-date=8 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008031821/https://books.google.com/books?id=4Abp5FdhskAC&pg=PA231 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Dash2009">{{cite book |last1=Dash |first1=Madhab Chandra |last2=Dash |first2=Satya Prakash |title=Fundamentals of Ecology 3E |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7mW4-us4Yg8C&pg=PA213 |access-date=18 October 2013 |year=2009 |publisher=Tata McGraw-Hill Education |isbn=978-1-259-08109-5 |page=213 |quote=Normally the human eye responds to light rays from 390 to 760 nm. This can be extended to a range of 310 to 1,050 nm under artificial conditions. |archive-date=8 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008031820/https://books.google.com/books?id=7mW4-us4Yg8C&pg=PA213 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Saidman1933">{{cite journal |last1=Saidman |first1=Jean |date=15 May 1933 |title=Sur la visibilité de l'ultraviolet jusqu'à la longueur d'onde 3130 |trans-title=The visibility of the ultraviolet to the wave length of 3130 |journal=[[Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences]] |volume=196 |pages=1537–9 |language=fr |url=http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k3148d |access-date=21 October 2013 |archive-date=24 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131024092515/http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k3148d |url-status=live }}</ref>

Plant growth is also affected by the colour spectrum of light, a process known as [[photomorphogenesis]].