Chapter 266: Wave-Particle Duality
Chapter 266: Wave-Particle Duality
Ke Xun nodded, I understand this part.
Regarding this, I must bring up the double-slit interference experiment then. Did you learn about it in school? Mu Yiran asked him.
Ke Xun scratched his head, You know, I once scored an amazing 13 points on a physics exam. Those 13 points were all from guessing on multiple-choice questions I basically read comics or slept through physics class. Now thinking back, all I can remember about physics is the rosacea on the physics teachers nose
Mu Yiran shook his head helplessly. He reached out to pinched Ke Xuns neck, and then rubbed his head, Light is composed of photons, which are also particles. JE C5T
The double-slit interference experiment is where you place a candle in front of a piece of paper A with a small hole. Behind paper A, there is another paper B with two parallel slits. Behind paper B, there is a curtain to be used as a screen.
Light passes through the small hole in paper A, then through the two slits in paper B, and finally, it projects onto the screen. What shape do you think the light spot projected onto the screen will be?
Ke Xun smiled, As soon as you asked this way, I knew the answer wouldnt be what I thought. But Ill answer based on what I thought according to my ignorant and bottom-tier students usual thinking, the light spots projected on the screen should be two long and narrow light columns like the slits on paper B.
Light is composed of many light particles. Indeed, according to the usual idea, a bunch of light particles passing through the slits should form two long and narrow light columns on the screen. Qin Ci interjected. Sj5Mzc
Mu Yiran nodded and continued, However, what actually appears on the screen is a fence=like pattern, alternating between light and dark stripes. This kind of light pattern is caused by the superposition of different brightnesses of light. And this phenomenon is caused by waves constructive interference and destructive interference property. This is the double-slit interference phenomenon of light.
This phenomenon and experiment precisely proved that light has both particle-like and wave-like attributesbecause waves exhibit constructive interference and destructive interference phenomenathis is what we call the wave-particle duality of light.