The Electromagnetic Spectrum · Chemistry Reference Tables (2025 Edition)
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The Electromagnetic Spectrum chart from the Reference Tables for Physical Science: Chemistry (2025 Edition) shows the regions of the electromagnetic spectrum by wavelength and by frequency, with the visible-light region expanded to show its colors. It primarily supports HS-PS4-4.
What the electromagnetic spectrum chart shows
Two parallel scales run across the chart: wavelength in a vacuum, in meters, from 104 m down to 10−13 m, and frequency, in hertz, from 105 Hz up to 1021 Hz. Radio, microwave, infrared, ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma radiation are marked as bands between the two scales (radio and gamma run off the ends of the chart), with visible light as a narrow band between infrared and ultraviolet. A note in the corner says that spectral boundaries are not discrete and that the biological effects of adjacent forms of radiation overlap.
Visible light is expanded above the wavelength scale and below the frequency scale:
| Color | Wavelength in a vacuum (m) | Frequency (Hz) |
|---|---|---|
| Red | 7.00 × 10−7 to 6.25 × 10−7 | 4.28 × 1014 to 4.80 × 1014 |
| Orange | 6.25 × 10−7 to 5.90 × 10−7 | 4.80 × 1014 to 5.08 × 1014 |
| Yellow | 5.90 × 10−7 to 5.65 × 10−7 | 5.08 × 1014 to 5.31 × 1014 |
| Green | 5.65 × 10−7 to 5.00 × 10−7 | 5.31 × 1014 to 6.00 × 1014 |
| Blue/Violet | 5.00 × 10−7 to 4.00 × 10−7 | 6.00 × 1014 to 7.50 × 1014 |
Wavelengths are in meters, while questions tend to give them in nanometers, so reading the chart usually also takes the nano- prefix from Selected Metric Prefixes (10−9). The chart gives no equation linking frequency to energy; that photons of higher frequency carry more energy is part of HS-PS4-4 itself. The Earth and Space Sciences reference tables have their own version of this chart, in nanometers.
Regents Exam Questions
Released Regents questions that cannot be answered without this table, listed by exam. Each link opens the question with its answer key; the standard is the one the question assesses.