The speed of light in vacuum, usually denoted by c, is a physical constant important in many areas of physics.

Its value is 299,792,458 metres per second, a figure that is exact since the length of the metre is defined from this constant and the international standard for time

In the special case of electromagnetic waves moving through a vacuum, then v = c, where c is the speed of light in a vacuum, and this expression becomes:

When waves from a monochrome source travel from one medium to another, their frequency remains exactly the same only their wavelength and speed change.

Photons are emitted in many natural processes. For example, when a charge is accelerated it emits synchrotron radiation. During a molecular, atomic or nuclear transition to a lower energy level, photons of various energy will be emitted, from infrared light to gamma rays. A photon can also be emitted when a particle and its corresponding antiparticle are annihilated (for example, electron-positron annihilation). In empty space, the photon moves at c (the speed of light) and its energy and momentum are related by E = pc, where p is the magnitude of the momentum vector p. This derives from the following relativistic relation, with m = 0:[15] E2 = p2c2 + m2c4. The energy and momentum of a photon depend only on its frequency () or inversely, its wavelength ():

where k is the wave vector (where the wave number k = |k| = 2/), = 2 is the angular frequency, and = h/2 is the reduced Planck constant. Since p points in the direction of the photon's propagation, the magnitude of the momentum is

The photon also carries spin angular momentum that does not depend on its frequency.[17] The magnitude of its spin is and the component measured along its direction of motion, its helicity, must be . These two possible helicities, called right-handed and left-handed,

correspond to the two possible circular polarization states of the photon. In applications where frequency is expressed in terms of radians per second ("angular frequency") instead of cycles per second, it is often useful to absorb a factor of 2 into the Planck constant. The resulting constant is called the reduced Planck constant or Dirac constant. It is equal to the Planck constant divided by 2, and is denoted ("h-bar"):

The energy of a photon with angular frequency , where = 2, is given by

The Planck constant has dimensions of physical action; these are the same as those of angular momentum, i.e., energy multiplied by time, or momentum multiplied by distance. In SI units, the Planck constant is expressed in joule seconds (Js) or (Nms). The value of the Planck constant is:[1]

The value of the reduced Planck constant is: