17 Jul 2022

81

Light: Wave or Particle?

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Academic level: College

Paper type: Research Paper

Words: 257

Pages: 1

Downloads: 0

I have never imagined of scientists differing on certain scientific discovery. However, I came to realize that this is not the case after reading the debate of whether light is a particle or wave. The argument of whether light is a wave or a particle has been going on for ages, with famous and influential scientists differing on their stance. Popular and respected scientist, Sir Isaac Newton, once stated that light was a particle. Despite having the knowledge that light displayed frequency-like properties, Newton argued that it was more particle than wave given the sharpness and clarity of the shadows created by its rays. However, Newton’s early advances in describing light as a particle were shadowed by the many other scientists who followed after him, most of whom declared light as a wave. 

Some scientists believe that light can be described as a particle. The reason for this is because despite it having a wave-like pattern, it is a particle in its original state. As Albert Einstein said, light is a particle, a photon to be specific. The movement of this photons is what brings about the wave-like movement in the light. Einstein went on further to state that lights electromagnetic flow was primarily as a result of minute particles (the photons) which as he said, were invisible to the eye. 

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Nevertheless, others think that light cannot be entirely described as a particle. Many years after Newton’s intervention of light as a particle, Augustin-Jean Fresnel, a French physicist, argued that light was a wave when he put it that light had very short wavelengths. He mathematically proved the interference of light. Based on these debates, I think it is justifiable to state that light is neither a particle nor a wave but a combination of both. 

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StudyBounty. (2023, September 15). Light: Wave or Particle?.
https://studybounty.com/light-wave-or-particle-research-paper

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