Black-Body Radiation and Planck's Quantum Theory

Classical physics had difficulty explaining the complete observed spectrum of black-body radiation. Max Planck introduced the idea that energy exchange is quantized. For electromagnetic radiation: E = hf where: `E` = energy of one quantum/photon `h` = Planck constant `f` = frequency Planck constant: h ≈ 6.626 × 10⁻³⁴ J s Energy is not necessarily exchanged in arbitrary continuous amounts. For oscillators of frequency `f`, allowed exchanged energies occur in multiples: **Eₙ = nhf** where: `n = 0,1,2,...`

This idea helped launch quantum physics. Higher-frequency radiation has: **greater energy per quantum because: E ∝ f**

**E=hf E=hc/λ**