It’s in your physics textbook, go look. It says that you can either model light as an electromagnetic wave OR you can model light a stream of photons. You can’t use both models at the same time. It’s ...

Stephen has degrees in science (Physics major) and arts (English Literature and the History and Philosophy of Science), as well as a Graduate Diploma in Science Communication. Stephen has degrees in ...

It’s a fundamental property of the universe, and one that continues to blow people’s minds: photons behave as both particles and waves, matter and energy. Photons aren’t alone in this—every elemental ...

The heart of quantum mechanics is the wave-particle duality: matter and light possess both wave-like and particle-like attributes. Typically, the wave-like properties are inferred indirectly from the ...

The uncertainty inherent to quantum mechanics has long left physicists wondering whether the observations we make on the ...

The question is from a student in Mrs. Alexander's seventh-grade science class at Smithton Middle School. A: "An electron is both a wave and a particle. You cannot pinpoint exactly where it is as any ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Scientists have long known that light can behave as both a particle ...

Sorta sparked by this comment someone made to me but it's similar to what other people have told me before: I was listening to a lecture on quantum electrodynamics and it helped me conceptualize the ...

Humans have problems with quantum mechanics. We have excellent intuition about the motion of a tennis ball tossed in the air, but what about an electron trapped in a box? The tendency is to use the ...

From the most distant stars in the sky to the screen in front of your face, light is everywhere. But the exact nature of ...

Does light behave more like a particle, or like a wave? Today we know the surprising answer. Here's why it took so long to get there. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an ...