photons

     

In physics, the photon is the elementary particle responsible for electromagnetic phenomena. It is the carrier of electromagnetic raiation of all wavelengths, including gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet light, visible light, infrared light, microwaves, and radio waves. The photon differs from many other elementary particles, such as the electron and the quark, in that it has zero rest mass; therefore, it travels (in a vacuum) at the speed of light, c. Like all quanta, the photon has both wave and particle properties (“wave–particle duality”). Photons show wave-like phenomena, such as refraction by a lens and destructive interference when reflected waves cancel each other out; however, as a particle, it can only interact with matter by transferring the amount of energy

Trivia about photons

  • All moving particles have waves associated with them, as light waves are with these particles of light
  • American Arthur Compton's work proved the existence of these "particles" of light
  • Light energy can be studied as these massless quantum units
  • Light can be interpreted either as particles called these or as waves called, uh, waves

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