Wave vs Particle Properties of Light

[AlyssaPeckham1A]

The Photoelectric effect shows light behaving as particles/photons. However, light is also described as having some wave-like properties. Does light behave as a combination of particles and waves or mainly as particles?

[Jessica Jones 2B]

Light has both wave properties and particle properties at all times. Certain experiments proved both of these things. For example, in the photoelectric experiment, the light acted as a particle. On the other hand, we know light has wave like properties based on spectroscopy, which was shown in the experiment of shinning a light through a prism and seeing the diffracted lights. So basically, light acts both as a wave and as particle, but each experiments showed different results, proving it has both.

[RuchaDeshpande1L]

In addition, electrons and therefore matter have both particle and wave properties. This duality is shown through the double-slit experiment, where the constructive and destructive interactions of waves resulted in diffraction patterns on different parts of the surface. However, these wavelike properties are only noticeable for objects with small mass and high velocity (like electrons).

[Sandhya Rajkumar 1C]

To add on to the last reply about matter, relatively large objects primarily exhibit particle properties, but to explain the behavior of very small objects, like electrons, both wave and particle properties must be considered.