Wave-Particle Duality of Light
Introduction
Some physical entities such as light can display some characteristics of both particles and waves. Before the early 20th century, scientists believed that light was in the form of an electromagnetic wave. It wasn’t until the 20th century onwards that scientists found that light has properties of waves and particles. Scientists discovered different properties of light through experimentation and allowed them to determine that light actually has a wave-particle duality.
Physics Concepts
In an electromagnetic wave, the constantly changing electric and magnetic fields affect each other so they both oscillate in different axis while the wave moves in a direction perpendicular to the oscillation of the fields as shown in Figure 1.
Waves
…show more content…
Throughout different experiments, scientists have discovered that light behaves as both a wave and a particle in different circumstances. The only way that all of the properties of light can be explained is through the idea of a wave-particle duality.
Bibliography
DeCross, M. (n.d.). Wave-Particle Duality. Retrieved from Brilliant: https://brilliant.org/wiki/wave-particle-duality/
Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2016, 12 02). Wave-Particle Duality. Retrieved from Encyclopaedia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/science/wave-particle-duality
Physics Classroom. (n.d.). Wavelike Behaviors of Light. Retrieved from the Physics Classroom: http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/light/u12l1a.cfm
Spring, K. R., & Davidson, M. W. (2016, 05 17). Light: Particle or a Wave? Retrieved from Physics of Light and Color: http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/lightandcolor/particleorwave.html
Weisstein, E. W. (2007). Conservation of Momentum. Retrieved from Wolfram Research:
Electromagnetic waves are factors of wavelength, frequency and speed of electromagnetic wave propagation or the relationship between rapid propagation of vapors that can propagate in a vacuum by multiplying the wavelength and its frequency. Equation of Electromagnetic Waves The equation is:
Sir Isaac Newton held the theory that light was made up of tiny particles. Before, most theories of light had an unexplainable phenomenon. Einstein had suggested that tiny particles which have energy, called protons, formes into light. This suggestion was made when he proposed a solution to the problems of observations discovered on the actions of light having the characteristics of both wave and particle theory.
During the crisis of modern science in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the postulates of early scientific discoveries had been refuted. In one of science’s most defining moments, an undisturbed photon of light was found to exhibit both wave-like and particulate qualities. The relationship between these two qualities would later be termed complementarity by Niels Bohr, one of the scientists at the forefront of this discovery. As Thomas S. Kuhn notes in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, “Before [the theory of quantum mechanics] was developed by Plank, Einstein, and others early in [the twentieth] century, physics texts taught that light was transverse wave motion” (12). So staggering was this discovery that in his autobiography, Albert Einstein recounts, “All my attempts to adapt the theoretical foundations of physics [to the new quantum knowns] failed completely. It was as if the ground had been pulled out from under one, with no firm foundation to be seen anywhere upon which one could have been built.” Not surprisingly, this arrest of the fundamental postulates of classical physics sparked a reevaluation of the “world view” by the ...
In 1864, James Clerk Maxwell revolutionized physics by publishing A Treatise On Electricity And Magnetism (James C. Maxwell, Bio.com), in which his equations described, for the first time, the unified force of electromagnetism (Stewart, Maxwell’s Equations), and how the force would influence objects in the area around it (Dine, Quantum Field Theory). Along with other laws such as Newton’s Law Of Gravitation, it formed the area of physics called classical field theory (Classical Field Theory, Wikipedia). However, over the next century, quantum mechanics were developed, leading to the realization that classical field theory, though thoroughly accurate on a macroscopic scale, simply would not work at a quantum, or subatomic scale, due to the extremely different behaviour of elementary particles. Scientists began developing a new ideas that would describe the behaviour of subatomic particles when subjected to the fundamental forces (QFT, Columbia Electronic Dictionary)(QFT, Britannica School). Einstein’s theory of special relativity, which states that the speed of light is always constant and as a result, both space and time are, in contrary, relative, was combined into this new theory, allowing for accurate descriptions of elementary
In the late 1800s, many scientists were searching for ‘ether’, the medium they, at the time, believed existed as a means of light waves to travel through. Ether was a medium that caused disruptions in the laws of physics, as they worked differently depending on the observer’s movement relative to the...
The author tells of how waves are effected by quantum mechanic. He also discusses the fact that electromagnetic radiation, or photons, are actually particles and waves. He continues to discuss how matter particles are also matter, but because of their h bar, is so small, the effects are not seen. Green concludes the quantum mechanics discussion by talking about the uncertainty principle.Chapter 5: The need for a New Theory: General Relativity vs.
Waves are all around us and come in various forms. Sound waves can travel through air because air is made of molecules, which carry the sound. Another type of wave is electromagnetic waves, which are different than sound waves because they don’t need molecules to travel. This means that electromagnetic waves can travel through air and solid materials as well as empty space (Groleau 2011). The electromagnetic spectrum consists of all waves of energy found in our universe. Radio waves, microwaves, infrared light, visible light, UV light, X-rays, and gamma rays, are the are the most common wavelengths on the spectrum. Wavelength is the distance between one wave crest (peak) to the next. Waves in the electromagnetic spectrum vary in size-- from very long radio waves the size of buildings, to very short gamma rays smaller than the size of the nucleus of an atom. But you may ask, are all of these waves that different from one another? The answer in fact, is no! What differentiates these types of waves is the amount of energy they carry. Photons, the smallest massless unit of energy, bundle up and travel in waves. The amount of photons that travel are measured and classified by the energy they posses. As the wavelength of the waves decrease, the amount of energy of the photons increases (Bitesize 2011).
Nature of wave: It is an electromagnetic wave as it does not necessarily require a medium for p...
Albert Einstein provided a significant and powerful confirmation, in 1905, that atoms and molecules actually exist through his analysis of Brownian motion. One of Albert Einstein 's most known contributions is the mass Energy equivalents equation. The energy equivalence equation is E = MC2 or Energy = Mass x (speed of light)2. this equation states that a little mass can generate quite a bit of energy, Because the mass is being multiplied times the speed of light which is being squared. The speed of light in vacuum is equal to 300,000 kilometers per second. Einstein also contributed greatly to the photoelectric effect. He saw that if you shine a light on metal it release electrons. Because of this Einstein said that light is made up of individual particles of energy called quanta. He theorized that when quanta hit the metal, the energy from it was transferred to the electrons giving the electrons enough energy to escape the nucleus is of the atoms in the metal. One of the other things Einstein is known for is Einstein 's theory of special relativity. Einstein began to wonder how to resolve Newton 's laws of motion with Maxwell 's equations of light. He solve this by imagining how the world would look if he could travel at the speed of light. He began to think that if you move towards a ray of light as it approaches you or if you move away from a ray lights, the ray of light would still be moving at the exact same speed no matter what. The ray of light will always move at the speed of light. It does not matter if you are moving towards the light or away from the light will meet you at the same time no matter what. Einstein then concluded that time, length, and mass depend on the speed we are moving at. In other words the closer you are to the speed of light the bigger the difference you see in the quantities compared to someone moving
All electromagnetic waves are transverse and can all travel through a vacuum. They also require no medium. The sun produces all electromagnetic waves, they are produced by a vibrating electric charge, meaning that they consist of both an electric and magnetic component. All electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light and in a straight line unless there is a change in the medium. If there is a change then the ...
The theory of quantum mechanics has divided the atom into a number of fundamental sub-atomic particles. Although the physicist has shown that the atom is not a solid indivisible object, he has not been able to find a particle which does possess those qualities. Talk of particles, though, is misleading because the word suggests a material object. This is not the intention for the use of the word in quantum physics. Quantum particles are, instead, representations of the actions and reactions of forces at the sub-atomic level. In fact, physicists are less concerned with the search for a material particle underlying all physical objects and more interested in explaining how nature works. Quantum theory is the means that enables the physicist to express those explanations in a scientific way.
Stemming from the first years of the 20th century, quantum mechanics has had a monumental influence on modern science. First explored by Max Planck in the 1900s, Einstein modified and applied much of the research in this field. This begs the question, “how did Einstein contribute to the development and research of quantum mechanics?” Before studying how Einstein’s research contributed to the development of quantum mechanics, it is important to examine the origins of the science itself. Einstein took much of Planck’s experimental “quantum theory” research and applied it in usable ways to existing science. He also greatly contributed to the establishment of the base for quantum mechanics research today. Along with establishing base research in the field, Einstein’s discoveries have been modified and updated to apply to our more advanced understanding of this science today. Einstein greatly contributed to the foundation of quantum mechanics through his research, and his theories and discoveries remain relevant to science even today.
Before the turn of the century in 1800, scientists were content to believe that light was made up of tiny particles. Isaac Newton was the first to propose the particle theory of light. He explained that we are able to perceive the objects around us when light particles ricochet off objects and enter our eyes. It wasn’t until 1803 when the English scientist, Thomas Young, first challenged this theory. Instead, Young believed that light was a wave phenomenon just like sound. He developed a new experiment, now referred to as Young’s Double-Slit Experiment, to test his hypothesis. The results of Young’s experiment were extremely important, proving that light has both wave and particle characteristics, called wave-particle duality.
Matter is energy (Fernflores 1). The fact that electron-positron interactions can either produce photons or...
In 1801 Thomas Young provided some very strong evidence to support the wave nature of light, he placed a monochromatic light in front of a screen with two slits cut into it, and observed an interference pattern, only possible if light was a wave. In 1965 Richard Feynman came up with a thought-experiment that was similar to Young’s experiment. In Feynman’s double-slit experiment, a chosen material is fired at a wall which has two small slits that can be opened and closed at will – some of the material gets blocked and some passes through the slits, depending on which ones are open.