The human retina has three types of receptor cones, each
sensitive to a different range of wavelengths of visible light,
as shown in this figure (the colors are merely to differentiate
the three curves from one another; they do not indicate the
actual colors represented by each curve):(a) Estimate the energies of photons with wavelengths at the
maximum for each type of cone. (b) The color of the sky is due
to scattering of solar light by the molecules of the atmosphere.
Lord Rayleigh was one of the first to study scattering of this
kind. He showed that the amount of scattering for very small
particles such as molecules is inversely proportional to the
fourth power of the wavelength. Estimate the ratio of the scattering
efficiency of light at the wavelength of the maximum
for the “blue” cones, as compared with that for the “green”
cones. (c) Explain why the sky appears blue even though all
wavelengths of solar light are scattered by the atmosphere
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