What Is Light

Electromagnetic waves do not require matter to exist because they are electrical and magnetic in nature. That is why we are able to see light from the sun. The void (absence of matter) between the Earth and the sun is no problem for light as it travels to the Earth. 

With electromagnetic radiation, the waves are repeating and there is a finite distance from the crest of one wave to the crest of the next wave. This distance is called the wavelength. Some wavelengths are extremely short while others are extremely long. A wavelength can be shorter than the radius of the smallest atom, or it can be as long as several miles. See 

Gamma X-rays Ultraviolet Visible Infrared rays 

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I considered the process of photoconductivity.. .. I kept asking myself, "What is light " and subsequently, "What is a photon " The latter question I repeated to myself several hundred times till it was being said automatically in synchronism with each breath. I probably never in my life pressured myself as intently with a question as I did this one."... 

By 1930, these paradoxes had been resolved by quantum mechanics, which superseded Newtonian mechanics. The classical wave description of light is adequate to explain phenomena such as interference and diffraction, but the emission of light from matter and the absorption of light by matter are described by the particlelike photon picture. A hallmark of quantum, as opposed to classical, thinking is not to ask What is light but instead How does light behave under particular experimental conditions Thus, wave-particle duality is not a contradiction, but rather part of the fundamental nature of light and also of matter. 

What is light and what is "circularly polarized light" ... 

First, what is light-gauge material To some, it may mean 0.125 in. thick to others, perhaps 0.030 in. thick is considered light, whereas those who used to slit flight recorder tape feel that 0.0005 in. is light gauge. 

We have evidence for the wavelike nature of light. We also know that a beam of light photons behaves like a stream of tiny packets of energy called photons. So what is light exactly Is it a particle Is it a wave Scientists have agreed to explain the properties of electromagnetic radiation by using both wave and particle properties. Neither explanation is ideal, but currently these are our best models. 

What is light How fast does light travel ... 

What is light more than what is wrong... 

Since light exhibits a particle-like nature in some experiments and wave-like properties in other experiments, we say that it exhibits a wave-particle duality. We cannot give a simple answer to the question What is light really like We use the wave description when it explains a particular experiment, and use the particle description when it explains another experiment. 

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