SWAMI VIVEKANANDA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE

AND TECHNOLOGY
CA - 1
PAPER CODE - BS - PH - 101
PAPER NAME - PHYSICS 1

TITLE OF THE TOPIC - DUAL NATURE OF LIGHT ( WAVE AND PARTICLE )

NAME : PROTHOM MAJUMDER

DEPARTMENT: AI & DS SESSION: 2024-25

REGISTRATION NUMBER:

UNIVERSITY ROLL NUMBER:

1
 INTRODUCTION

• WHAT IS DUAL NATURE OF LIGHT ?

THE DUAL NATURE OF LIGHT REFERS TO THE IDEA THAT LIGHT POSSESSES BOTH WAVE-
LIKE AND PARTICLE-LIKE CHARACTERISTICS. IT MEANS THAT LIGHT CAN BEHAVE AS A
CONTINUOUS WAVE UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES, DEMONSTRATING PROPERTIES
LIKE INTERFERENCE AND DIFFRACTION.

PROPOSAL OF DUAL NATURE OF LIGHT LIGHT AS WAVE-PARTICLE DUALITY

THE DUAL NATURE OF LIGHT WAS FIRST PROPOSED 1. WAVE NATURE: DEMONSTRATED BY
BY MAX PLANCK IN 1900 THROUGH HIS WORK ON PHENOMENA LIKE INTERFERENCE AND
BLACKBODY RADIATION. HE INTRODUCED THE IDEA DIFFRACTION, WHERE LIGHT BEHAVES
THAT LIGHT ENERGY IS EMITTED OR ABSORBED IN AS OSCILLATING ELECTRIC AND
DISCRETE PACKETS CALLED QUANTA (OR PHOTONS), MAGNETIC FIELDS.
LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR THE PARTICLE NATURE
OF LIGHT.
2. PARTICLE NATURE: EVIDENT IN THE
LATER, ALBERT EINSTEIN PROVIDED STRONG PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT, WHERE LIGHT
SUPPORT FOR THIS THEORY IN 1905 WHILE ACTS AS DISCRETE PACKETS OF
ENERGY CALLED PHOTONS, WITH
EXPLAINING THE PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT. HE
ENERGY .
DEMONSTRATED THAT LIGHT CONSISTS OF PHOTONS
WITH ENERGY PROPORTIONAL TO THEIR FREQUENCY THIS DUALITY IS CENTRAL TO QUANTUM
(), WHICH SUCCESSFULLY EXPLAINED HOW LIGHT MECHANICS, SHOWING THAT LIGHT'S
EJECTS ELECTRONS FROM METAL SURFACES. BEHAVIOR DEPENDS ON THE
PHENOMENON BEING OBSERVED.
TOGETHER, THEIR WORK ESTABLISHED THAT LIGHT
EXHIBITS BOTH WAVE-LIKE AND PARTICLE-LIKE
BEHAVIORS, FORMING THE BASIS OF QUANTUM
MECHANICS.
 WAVE NATURE OF LIGHT
EVIDENCE OF WAVE NATURE
INTERFERENCE ( YOUNG'S DOUBLE SLIT DIFFRACTION ( BENDING AROUND
EXPERIMENT) OBSTACLES )
INTERFERENCE IN YOUNG'S DOUBLE SLIT DIFFRACTION IS THE BENDING OF WAVES
EXPERIMENT DEMONSTRATES THE WAVE NATURE AROUND OBSTACLES OR THROUGH SLITS. IT
OF LIGHT. LIGHT PASSES THROUGH TWO OCCURS WHEN THE WAVELENGTH OF THE WAVE
CLOSELY SPACED SLITS, CREATING IS COMPARABLE TO THE SIZE OF THE OBSTACLE.
OVERLAPPING WAVES THAT INTERFERE WITH
EACH OTHER. 1. BENDING: WAVES SPREAD OUT AND BEND
WHEN THEY PASS CLOSE TO AN EDGE OR
1. CONSTRUCTIVE INTERFERENCE: WHEN WAVES THROUGH A SMALL OPENING.
ARRIVE IN PHASE (CREST WITH CREST), THEY
AMPLIFY, CREATING BRIGHT FRINGES.
2. LARGER WAVELENGTHS: LONGER WAVES (LIKE
CONDITION: .
SOUND) DIFFRACT MORE THAN SHORTER WAVES
2. DESTRUCTIVE INTERFERENCE: WHEN WAVES
(LIKE LIGHT).
ARRIVE OUT OF PHASE (CREST WITH TROUGH),
THEY CANCEL OUT, CREATING DARK FRINGES. 3. PATTERNS: DIFFRACTION CREATES PATTERNS
CONDITION: . OF LIGHT AND DARK BANDS.

THE RESULTING PATTERN CONSISTS OF IN SHORT, DIFFRACTION SHOWS WAVES

ALTERNATING BRIGHT AND DARK FRINGES. THIS SPREADING AROUND OBJECTS, STRONGER FOR
EXPERIMENT SUPPORTS THE WAVE THEORY OF LONGER WAVES.
LIGHT AND SHOWS THE BEHAVIOR OF WAVES
THROUGH SUPERPOSITION.

FIG . 1 FIG.2
 PARTICLE NATURE OF LIGHT .
EVIDENCE OF PARTICLE NATURE .

PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT
THE PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT IS A PHENOMENON WHERE ELECTRONS ARE EJECTED FROM A MATERIAL (TYPICALLY A METAL)
WHEN IT IS EXPOSED TO LIGHT OF SUFFICIENT ENERGY. IT WAS FIRST OBSERVED BY HEINRICH HERTZ AND LATER EXPLAINED BY
ALBERT EINSTEIN IN 1905, FOR WHICH HE WON THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS IN 1921.

KEY POINTS :
1. LIGHT AS PHOTONS: EINSTEIN PROPOSED THAT LIGHT IS MADE UP OF PACKETS OF ENERGY CALLED PHOTONS. THE ENERGY
OF A PHOTON IS PROPORTIONAL TO ITS FREQUENCY (, WHERE IS PLANCK'S CONSTANT AND IS THE FREQUENCY).

2. THRESHOLD FREQUENCY: ELECTRONS ARE EMITTED ONLY IF THE LIGHT'S FREQUENCY IS ABOVE A CERTAIN THRESHOLD
SPECIFIC TO THE MATERIAL. BELOW THIS FREQUENCY, NO ELECTRONS ARE EMITTED, REGARDLESS OF THE LIGHT'S INTENSITY.

3. KINETIC ENERGY OF ELECTRONS: THE ENERGY OF THE EJECTED ELECTRON IS GIVEN BY , WHERE IS THE MATERIAL'S WORK
FUNCTION (THE MINIMUM ENERGY NEEDED TO EJECT AN ELECTRON).

4. SIGNIFICANCE: THE PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT PROVIDED EVIDENCE FOR THE PARTICLE NATURE OF LIGHT AND WAS
INSTRUMENTAL IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF QUANTUM MECHANICS.

APPLICATIONS :
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS (SOLAR PANELS)

PHOTOELECTRIC SENSORS

FIG . 3
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY

IT MARKED A SIGNIFICANT DEPARTURE FROM CLASSICAL WAVE THEORIES OF LIGHT, EMPHASIZING THE QUANTUM BEHAVIOR OF
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION.
 APPLICATIONS OF WAVE - PARTICLE DUALITY
1. LASERS :
WAVE ASPECT: LASERS PRODUCE COHERENT LIGHT, MEANING ALL LIGHT WAVES ARE IN PHASE AND HAVE THE
SAME FREQUENCY, CREATING A HIGHLY FOCUSED AND MONOCHROMATIC BEAM.

PARTICLE ASPECT: PHOTONS ARE EMITTED DURING STIMULATED EMISSION WHEN ELECTRONS TRANSITION
BETWEEN ENERGY LEVELS.

USES: LASERS ARE USED IN MEDICAL SURGERIES (E.G., LASIK), INDUSTRIAL CUTTING AND WELDING, OPTICAL
COMMUNICATIONS, AND IN DEVICES LIKE BARCODE SCANNERS. FIG . 4

2. FIBRE OPTICS :
WAVE ASPECT: LIGHT TRAVELS THROUGH OPTICAL FIBERS USING TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION, WHICH IS
BASED ON THE WAVE NATURE OF LIGHT.

PARTICLE ASPECT: SINGLE PHOTONS ARE USED FOR QUANTUM COMMUNICATION, ENSURING SECURE
TRANSMISSION. PHOTON INTERACTIONS WITH FIBER MATERIALS ALSO AFFECT SIGNAL QUALITY.

USES: FIBER OPTICS ENABLE HIGH-SPEED INTERNET, TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORKS, MEDICAL ENDOSCOPY,
AND LASER SENSORS. Re

FIG . 5
3. QUANTAM COMPUTING :

WAVE ASPECT: THE WAVE-LIKE PROPERTIES OF PARTICLES ENABLE SUPERPOSITION (QUBITS EXIST IN MULTIPLE
STATES SIMULTANEOUSLY) AND INTERFERENCE (IMPACTING COMPUTATIONAL OUTCOMES).

PARTICLE ASPECT: QUBITS, BASED ON PARTICLE STATES LIKE ELECTRON SPIN OR PHOTON POLARIZATION,
ALLOW INFORMATION STORAGE AND MANIPULATION.

USES: QUANTUM COMPUTING IS APPLIED IN CRYPTOGRAPHY, OPTIMIZATION PROBLEMS, QUANTUM SIMULATIONS

FOR MATERIALS, AND DRUG DISCOVERY.

SUMMARY: FIG . 6
WAVE-PARTICLE DUALITY ENABLES PRECISE CONTROL OF LIGHT AND MATTER AT BOTH QUANTUM AND
MACROSCOPIC LEVELS, DRIVING TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS IN COMMUNICATION, COMPUTATION, AND
MEDICAL APPLICATIONS.
 CONCLUSION

• KEY TAKEAWAYS

THE DUAL NATURE OF LIGHT REVOLUTIONIZED PHYSICS BY CHALLENGING CLASSICAL THEORIES AND
LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR QUANTUM MECHANICS. TRADITIONALLY, LIGHT WAS THOUGHT TO
EXHIBIT EITHER WAVE-LIKE OR PARTICLE-LIKE BEHAVIOR, BUT GROUNDBREAKING EXPERIMENTS AND
THEORIES REVEALED THAT LIGHT POSSESSES BOTH WAVE AND PARTICLE PROPERTIES,
FUNDAMENTALLY ALTERING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE PHYSICAL WORLD.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT:

1. WAVE THEORY ( 17TH - 19TH CENTURY )

MAX PLANCK
PROPOSED BY SCIENTISTS LIKE CHRISTIAAN HUYGENS AND JAMES CLERK MAXWELL, LIGHT WAS
DESCRIBED AS AN ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE. THIS EXPLAINED PHENOMENA LIKE INTERFERENCE,
DIFFRACTION, AND POLARIZATION.

HOWEVER, THIS THEORY COULD NOT EXPLAIN CERTAIN EFFECTS, SUCH AS THE PHOTOELECTRIC
EFFECT.

2. PARTICLE THEORY

ISAAC NEWTON INITIALLY PROPOSED THAT LIGHT CONSISTS OF PARTICLES (CORPUSCLES), WHICH
EXPLAINED REFLECTION AND REFRACTION.

THE DISCOVERY OF THE PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT BY HEINRICH HERTZ AND ALBERT EINSTEIN’S
ALBERT EINSTEIN
EXPLANATION IN 1905 REINTRODUCED THE PARTICLE NATURE OF LIGHT AS PHOTONS.