Why are photons discrete?

Photon come in packets, or quanta Energy is proportional to the frequency of the wave oscillation. A reason we find them quantized is due to Black-body radiation . A black body is an idealized case, but can be approximated to a completely black box with a tiny hole in a wall.

How are photons discrete?

A photon is a particle of light defined as a discrete bundle (or quantum) of electromagnetic (or light) energy. Photons are always in motion and, in a vacuum (a completely empty space), have a constant speed of light to all observers.

Why photons are quantized?

Photons are a ​quantized​ particle. This means they exist only in discrete amounts of energy, rather than any amount of energy in between. So if a photon is the result of a “falling electron,” a photon must also come in only specific energy amounts, or quanta.

Do photons actually move?

Photons are massless, so they always move at the speed of light in vacuum, 299792458 m/s (or about 186,282 mi/s). Like all elementary particles, photons are currently best explained by quantum mechanics and exhibit wave–particle duality, their behavior featuring properties of both waves and particles.

What is photon give its properties?

Photon properties The basic properties of photons are: They have zero mass and rest energy. They only exist as moving particles. They are elementary particles despite lacking rest mass.

What does it mean when light is discrete?

The classical example of discrete spectrum (for which the term was first used) is the characteristic set of discrete spectral lines seen in the emission spectrum and absorption spectrum of isolated atoms of a chemical element, which only absorb and emit light at particular wavelengths.

Is light a discrete particle?

On the other hand, Albert Einstein’s analysis of the photoelectric effect demonstrates that light is composed of discrete particles called photons. The energy of the photons—the light frequency—determines the energy of the electrons that are produced.

Why is energy discrete?

Atoms and molecules have discrete energy levels, as a result of the quantum-mechanical nature of the motion of the electrons. An atom in the lower state 1 can become excited while absorbing a photon, at a rate BIn1 that is proportional to the intensity per unit frequency I (also called the spectral intensity).

Why energy is quantized?

Energy is quantized in some systems, meaning that the system can have only certain energies and not a continuum of energies, unlike the classical case. This would be like having only certain speeds at which a car can travel because its kinetic energy can have only certain values.