Resource: Light Particles Acting Like Waves: The Uncertainty Principle
Media Type:
QuickTime Video
Length: 2m 07s
Size: 2.9 MB
Teachers' Domain, Light Particles Acting Like Waves: The Uncertainty Principle, published January 22, 2004, retrieved on ,
http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/phy03.sci.phys.fund.uncertainty/
- Background Essay
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The particle theory of light recognizes that light can be produced when the electrons in an atom accelerate. This acceleration can happen when a substance is heated (as when electrical current flows through a light bulb filament) or when an atom's electrons collide with electrons from another source. In either event, an atom's electrons take on energy and rise to a higher-energy-level orbit, to what physicists call an "excited state." Because this orbit is unstable, each electron quickly drops to its original energy state and in the process releases a small, discrete bundle of electromagnetic energy called a photon.
Single photons are the smallest quantities of light and, despite having no mass, have many properties in common with particles. In fact, physicists often think of photons as particles -- particles that sometimes behave like waves. Physicists sometimes describe all particles as waves -- even those with mass, such as electrons and protons -- in order to better understand certain aspects of their behavior.
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Source: A Science Odyssey: "Mysteries of the Universe"
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