Lesson Plan: Photon Momentum Physics • Third Year of Secondary School

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This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to calculate the momentum of a photon given its frequency or wavelength.

Objectives

Students will be able to

recognize that photons have momentum, even though they do not have mass,
recognize that, for one photon, this momentum is very small,
recognize that the momentum of a photon is inversely proportional to its wavelength,
recognize that the momentum of a photon is directly proportional to its frequency,
use the formula ,
use the formula ,
find the total momentum of identical photons, given the wavelength or frequency of each photon.

Prerequisites

Students should already be familiar with

the idea that light can be modeled as a wave,
terms for the basic properties of waves: frequency, period, wavelength, wave speed, and amplitude,
how to use the formula ,
the idea that light travels at a speed in a vacuum, with a value approximately equal to m/s,
how to represent numbers using scientific notation,
the idea that light consists of particles called photons.