Wave particle duality means that
- A. light is a wave and matter is a particle, always
- B. light and matter each show wave behaviour in some experiments and particle behaviour in others
- C. waves and particles are the same thing in every respect
- D. particles travel in waves through a medium
Explanation
Interference and diffraction reveal the wave nature of light, while the photoelectric and Compton effects reveal its particle nature, and electron diffraction shows that matter behaves the same way. Which aspect appears depends on the experiment performed, and no single experiment shows both at once. This complementarity is a foundation of quantum mechanics.
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