After the recent interpretation of the blackbody radiation, photoelectric effect, Compton effect…it was concluded that: a. Light have a particle like nature b. Dualism became an impotant principle that states that a physical system may be described either by using a particle-like model or a wave line model. The system under study may not exhibit simultaneously particle like behavior and wave like behavior. c. Dualism became an impotant principle that states that a physical system may be described either by using a particle-like model or a wave line model. The system under study may exhibit simultaneously both particle like behavior and wave like behavior. d. In collision related phenomena light tends to behave as a particle.
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
The correct answer is c. Dualism became an important principle that states that a physical system may be described either by using a particle-like model or a wave-like model. The system under study may exhibit simultaneously both particle-like behavior and wave-like behavior.
Explanation:
The conclusion drawn from the interpretation of phenomena like blackbody radiation, the photoelectric effect, and the Compton effect is grounded in wave-particle duality, a fundamental concept in quantum mechanics. The dual nature of light was explored deeply in the early 20th century and led to a major shift in our understanding of physics.
- Blackbody Radiation: The failure of classical physics to explain the spectrum of radiation emitted by a blackbody (the “ultraviolet catastrophe”) led to Max Planck’s hypothesis in 1900 that energy is emitted or absorbed in discrete packets called quanta. This suggested that light (and other forms of radiation) has a particle-like nature, quantized in terms of energy.
- Photoelectric Effect: Albert Einstein’s explanation of the photoelectric effect in 1905 further confirmed the particle nature of light. According to Einstein, light consists of discrete packets of energy (photons) that can knock electrons out of a metal surface. This could not be explained by the classical wave theory of light, which predicted that the energy of the ejected electrons should depend on the intensity of light, not its frequency.
- Compton Effect: In 1923, Arthur Compton showed that when X-rays were scattered by electrons, they behaved like particles (photons) with momentum. The scattering resulted in a shift in the wavelength of the X-rays, which could only be explained if the X-rays had particle-like properties.
The wave-particle duality principle, thus, emerged as a central feature of quantum mechanics, implying that light (and other subatomic particles) exhibits both wave-like and particle-like behaviors, depending on the experimental context. This dualism doesn’t mean that light behaves only in one way at a time, but that it can exhibit characteristics of both waves (like interference and diffraction) and particles (like discrete energy packets or photons).
Therefore, the dual nature of light is encapsulated in answer (c), where both behaviors can manifest depending on the conditions of the experiment.
