Light as Waves and Particles
11th Grade · Science · 45 min
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Learning Objective
I can describe the evidence supporting the wave-particle duality of light.
- 1
Light exhibits wave-particle duality, behaving as both an electromagnetic wave and a stream of particles called photons.
- 2
The photoelectric effect demonstrates that electrons are ejected from a metal when struck by a photon with sufficient energy, dependent on the light's frequency rather than its intensity.
- 3
Einstein explained the photoelectric effect by proposing that light is made of quanta called photons, each with an energy (E) equal to Planck's constant (h) times its frequency (ν), represented by the equation E = hν.
