What is wave-particle duality of light?

In physics and chemistry, wave-particle duality holds that light and matter exhibit properties of both waves and of particles.

How can light be both a wave and a particle?

Light can be described both as a wave and as a particle. There are two experiments in particular that have revealed the dual nature of light. When we’re thinking of light as being made of of particles, these particles are called “photons”. Photons have no mass, and each one carries a specific amount of energy.

What is wave-particle duality give one example?

For example, an electron that forms part of an electric current in a circuit behaves like a particle moving in unison with other electrons inside the conductor. The same electron behaves as a wave when it passes through a solid crystalline structure and forms a diffraction image.

Who discovered the wave-particle duality of light?

Albert Einstein
It was Albert Einstein who suggested that light did not behave exactly a wave or a particle. Instead, light behaves as both wave and particle. Einstein’s theory became known as the wave-particle duality of light, and is now fully accepted by modern scientists.

Why is wave-particle duality important?

Significance of Wave-Particle Duality The major significance of the wave-particle duality is that all behavior of light and matter can be explained through the use of a differential equation which represents a wave function, generally in the form of the Schrodinger equation.

Why does wave-particle duality exist?

1 Answer. According to string theory the wave particle duality exists because electrons are actually standing waves, so electrons can act as waves.

What is a consequence of wave-particle duality?

This is called the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, and it is a natural consequence of the wave-particle duality of nature. Recalling that a particle’s momentum is just its (mass) x (velocity), Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle says that an object does not have an exact position and velocity at the same time.

When was wave-particle duality discovered?

In 1923, Louis de Broglie, a French physicist, proposed a hypothesis to explain the theory of the atomic structure.By using a series of substitution de Broglie hypothesizes particles to hold properties of waves.