How is light energy different from sound and heat energy?

Answer 1

Sound energy consists of waves in a medium such as air, where the air is alternately compressed and expanded at the frequency of the tone involved. For sound we can hear the frequency is roughly between 30 Hz and 15 kHz, but outside this range sound still exists and may be picked up by other animals.

Thermal energy is a property of a medium where the molecules or atoms are vibrating to an extent which increases with temperature, it is not a wave phenomenen.

Answer 2

Heat waves are a form of electromagnetic radiation. Therefore, they are transverse waves (oscillate perpendicularly to the direction of propagation) and need no medium to travel through. Sound waves, on the other hand, are mechanical waves, meaning they need a medium to travel through. If that medium is a liquid or a gas, sound waves oscillate longitudinally (in the direction they're traveling). If that medium is a solid, they oscillate both longitudinally and transversely.

Answer 3

ENERGY can not be created or destroyed. Energy can change its shape into different forms. In a little technical words, energy can transform from one type to another. Various type of energy are heat, light, sound, potential energy, kinetic energy, electrical energy, magnetic energy, nuclear energy etc. So to answer your question,Light and sound are two shapes and kind of energy.

When energy changes its form from one type to another, its characteristics also change. Now let us talk about similarities.

Light and sound are two types of energy.

Differences:

Sound is the disturbance of mechanical energy, and moves through matter as a wave. It is the properties of a sound wave that characterise sound namely frequency, wavelength, period, amplitude, and speed.

Light is electromagnetic radiation.

Differences:

There are two main differences between sound and light waves. Firstly in speed, sound travels at about 1,100 feet per second, light waves travel at about 186,000 miles per second.

The second difference is that sound requires a solid, liquid or gaseous medium to travel but light can travel through empty space. The denser the medium, the greater the speed of sound whereas the opposite is true of light. Light travels around a third slower in water than in air, sound travels through all substances but light will not pass through anything that is opaque.

I'm assuming you're asking about visible light? As the first answer referrs to visible light. There are other types of 'light' that we cannot see... Ultraviolet, Infared, radio waves, cosmic rays, microwaves, gamma rays, x-rays are all forms of light outside the visible spectrum. Higer frequency light will penetrate things that are opaque (radation). Lower freqency light will interact with molecular bonds to increace their energy... hence your food heats up in the mircrowave or you sunburn in the sun.

Answer 4

Light energy can exist independently of matter.