Summary

Exploring the antithesis of the wave model, this album of eight computer-animated video segments looks at the particle approach to studying light. Black-body radiation, Planck’s constant, the Photoelectric Effect, and the work of James Clerk Maxwell are presented as forerunners to Einstein’s concept of photon frequency.

Examples of a slope intercept graph and a revised double-slit experiment using light-sensitive paper segue to an illustration of the Compton Effect, establishing that light consists of a stream of particles. De Broglie’s contributions introduce wave-particle duality—which some might consider a muddy solution, although it represents the best that current science can do.

Sections

Ø The Nature of Light: Competing Theories

Ø Black Body Radiation

Ø The Quantum Leap

Ø Photoelectric Effect

Ø The Photon

Ø Wave-Particle Duality

Ø Compton Effect

Ø Matter Waves