## Wave and Particle Properties of Electrons and Photons

H-Atom ($E_{n}=-\frac{hR}{n^{2}}$)

RichardValdez1L
Posts: 59
Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2018 11:05 am

### Wave and Particle Properties of Electrons and Photons

Are we just supposed to understand that electrons and photons act sometimes as waves and sometimes as particles because when using two beams the particles do not collide and the interference patterns for waves? Any clarification would be much appreciated ! :)

Chem_Mod
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### Re: Wave and Particle Properties of Electrons and Photons

Hello Richard,

For the purposes of this class, we are to understand that massless photons as well as matter with mass (electrons, protons, a baseball) all have wave-particle duality to some degree.

For a photon, its wavelength is defined via
$c = \nu \lambda$

And for particle with mass (eg. electron), its wavelength is defined via De Broglie,
$\lambda = \frac{h}{p}$

Hope this helps!

RichardValdez1L
Posts: 59
Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2018 11:05 am

### Re: Wave and Particle Properties of Electrons and Photons

Perfect response!

vivianndo_1L
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Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2018 11:02 am

### Re: Wave and Particle Properties of Electrons and Photons

How does constructive/destructive interference relate to the wave-particle duality then? I'm still a little confused

Chem_Mod
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### Re: Wave and Particle Properties of Electrons and Photons

The constructive/destructive interference patterns show that they have wave-like properties because you can see diffraction.

For an understanding of diffraction, see this post: