If solar radiation is 1040 w/m^2, how many photons strike the leaf every second? assume three significant figures and an average wavelength of 504 nm for solar radiation. a green leaf has a surface area of 2.35 cm^2.

The intensity I of the solar radiation is related to the power P by

where is the area of the leaf. Using the value of the intensity, , we find the power:

Now we can find the total amount of energy that hits the leaf in t=1.0 s:


The energy of a single photon of wavelength is given by

where is the Planck constant, is the speed of light and is the average wavelength of the light. Substituting, we find


To find the number of photons that hit the leaf in 1.0 s, we can divide the total energy that we found before, E, by the energy of a single photon:

The correct answer should be b let me know if i’m wrong