Photoelectric effect and lights particle nature

[gaara]

Hello,

 

can someone please answer this question. sorry if answered before.

 

What key relationships observed in the photoelectric effect led to the belief that light has a particle natuture.

 

and also, is the current model of light a particle or wave one.

 

thank you.

[swansont]

Hello' date='

 

can someone please answer this question. sorry if answered before.

 

What key relationships observed in the photoelectric effect led to the belief that light has a particle natuture.

 

and also, is the current model of light a particle or wave one.

 

thank you.[/quote']

 

The current model is that it's both. If you look for particle properties, you'll find particle properties. If you look for wave properties, you'll find wave properties.

 

In the photoelectric effect, it was observed that the energy given to the electron (and the ability to ionize) does not depend on the amplitude of the light, which is related to total energy. It depends on the frequency of the light, and the number of particles released depends on amplitude. This is inconsistent with a purely wave explanation, but perfectly consistent with a a particle explanation where E=hf, where f is frequency.

[gaara]

thanks alot.

 

is there debate that light should be one or the other. or is it just accpeted as both?

im just trying to understand why it can be both.

[5614]

Part of quantum mechanics (or quantum physics) is wave-particle duality... it says that particles can have wave properties and waves can have carrier particles. They wave/particle has properties of both.

 

If you imagine a particle travelling in a wave shape, like a dolphin jumping in and out of water and also travelling forward, you have a particle going up and down (osciallating) and forward, that's a particle travelling the path of a wave.

 

Light is accepted as both a wave and a particle, or maybe just a 'thing' which displays properties of both.

[swansont]

thanks alot.

 

is there debate that light should be one or the other. or is it just accpeted as both?

im just trying to understand why it can be both.

 

On the macroscopic scale we perceive things to be one or the other, but things behave quite differently on a small scale. All things behave as waves, but they contain a quantized amount of energy. We think of quantized energy as a particle phenomenon.

[nomadd22]

It isn't a competition. We just use the words particle and wave to describe certain aspects of photons. It doesn't mean that photons have dual natures. It just means that people aren't bright enough to describe new concepts with out using familiar words and concepts.