Is light in waves or photons?
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Is light in waves or photons?
I'm v confused because one module spent 26 mins talking about how light was in waves and that mu*lambda= velocity (c speed of light) and another said that light wasn't in waves. So I'm v confused. Can someone explain this please?
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Re: Is light in waves or photons?
Photons are the elementary particle that is responsible for carrying the electromagnetic force and manifests in electromagnetic radiation. Photons exhibit wave-particle duality, so light is carried by photons which have wave-like and particle-like tendencies.
Re: Is light in waves or photons?
Light has both wave and photon properties.
Wave properties of light explain the inverse relationship between wavelength and frequency of light. It also explains how amplitude represents the intensity of the wave. In this case, bigger amplitude (more intensity light) means greater energy.
Meanwhile, photon properties of light explain how light has particle properties and why the photoelectric effect happens. In this case, a higher frequency means greater energy. The photoelectric experiment showed that light does not only have wave properties, but also photon properties since more intense light didn't eject electrons, but high frequency light did.
Wave properties of light explain the inverse relationship between wavelength and frequency of light. It also explains how amplitude represents the intensity of the wave. In this case, bigger amplitude (more intensity light) means greater energy.
Meanwhile, photon properties of light explain how light has particle properties and why the photoelectric effect happens. In this case, a higher frequency means greater energy. The photoelectric experiment showed that light does not only have wave properties, but also photon properties since more intense light didn't eject electrons, but high frequency light did.
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Re: Is light in waves or photons?
Light is subject to the wave-particle duality! It exhibits both properties of light, which means you can use applicable wave equations to determine frequency and wavelength etc., while also using equations that show that it's a particle, like the work function equation.
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Re: Is light in waves or photons?
For calculation purposes, use light as a wave (do not use De Broglie formula). Use E=hv when doing light calculations. However it DOES has light-wave duality. Hope that helps!
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Re: Is light in waves or photons?
Think about it, we don't know the mass of a photon right? Also, use landa x v =c
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Re: Is light in waves or photons?
Light has both particle and wave-like properties. Light has particle-like properties in the photoelectric effect and wave-like properties like diffraction through the double slit experiment.
Re: Is light in waves or photons?
Depending on the situation, light can be seen to be in either waves or photons, and there are different equations that you can use to observe these properties.
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Re: Is light in waves or photons?
Light has properties of waves as displayed in diffraction patterns that are shown when light passes through a crystal and particles as seen in the photoelectric effect.
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