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Answer in Brief · Q10

Q.What do you understand by the term wave-particle duality? Where does it apply?

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Wave-particle duality is the idea that a single physical entity -- whether electromagnetic radiation or a material particle -- cannot be fully described by EITHER a pure wave picture OR a pure particle picture alone; both descriptions are simultaneously necessary, with one or the other dominating depending on the specific situation.\n\nFor ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION (section 14.3): phenomena like interference and diffraction are explained only by treating light as a wave, while phenomena like the photoelectric effect, black-body radiation, and Compton scattering are explained only by treating light as a stream of particle-like photons carrying definite energy (E=hνE=h\nu) and momentum (p=h/λp=h/\lambda). This dual character applies not just to visible light but to the whole electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to gamma rays.\n\nFor MATTER (sections 14.5-14.7): de Broglie proposed, and the Davisson-Germer experiment confirmed, that material particles like electrons also possess an associated wavelength λ=h/p\lambda=h/p, showing genuine wave-like behaviour (such as diffraction) under the right conditions. As a general rule, PARTICLE nature dominates whenever radiation or matter directly INTERACTS with something (a collision, an …

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