lightparticles

Light particles, also known as photons, are the fundamental quantum of the electromagnetic field. They are massless elementary particles that carry energy and momentum. Photons are responsible for all forms of electromagnetic radiation, including visible light, radio waves, X-rays, and gamma rays. According to quantum mechanics, light exhibits wave-particle duality, meaning it can behave as both a wave and a particle depending on the experiment. When behaving as a particle, light is observed as discrete packets of energy. The energy of a single photon is directly proportional to its frequency, a relationship described by Planck's equation. Photons are emitted or absorbed when an electron in an atom transitions between energy levels. They travel at the speed of light in a vacuum, which is a universal constant. Photons do not carry an electric charge and are not affected by magnetic fields in the same way charged particles are. Their existence was first theorized by Albert Einstein in 1905 to explain the photoelectric effect, a phenomenon where light can eject electrons from a metal surface. This groundbreaking idea revolutionized physics and contributed to the development of quantum theory.