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Particle and Wave Duality
 About Photon |
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On the previous page I listed some physical properties of photons. We also saw a connection between the fundamental EM WAVE variable, FREQUENCY, and the fundamental PHOTON variable MOMENTUM
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Planck and other physicists went even further. When they built quantum mechanics, they postulated that every particle with a momentum p has an assigned "wave," called a probability density distribution wave, with a frequency calculable from the above formula.
This was a very nontrivial step. It took the greatest minds of the beginning of our century. What they were basically suggesting was that EVERY particle can show the properties of a wave INTERFERENCE.
A Conclusion: not only do EM waves act as particles, but EVERY particle acts as a probability density distribution wave.
On the next page, I will briefly describe of an experiment that proves this duality, namely, that particles show interference patterns.
| About Photon |
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