Dual Nature of Radiation and Matter

Photoelectric effect, de Broglie wavelength and wave–particle duality.

1.Introduction to Dual Nature

A beginner-friendly explanation of why light and matter show both wave-like and particle-like behaviour.

2.Historical Background

How discoveries by Planck, Einstein and others led to the idea that radiation and matter have dual nature.

3.Blackbody Radiation

Understand the blackbody radiation problem and how Planck’s quantum hypothesis helped solve it.

4.Photoelectric Effect

Learn how light ejects electrons from metal surfaces and why this proved the particle nature of light.

5.Einstein’s Photoelectric Equation

Simple explanation of Einstein’s equation relating photon energy to the kinetic energy of emitted electrons.

6.Work Function and Threshold Frequency

Understand the minimum energy and minimum frequency required to liberate electrons from a metal.

7.Stopping Potential

Explanation of stopping potential and how it helps measure the maximum kinetic energy of photoelectrons.

8.Particle Nature of Light (Photons)

Learn what photons are and how they carry energy in discrete packets.

9.Wave Nature of Matter

Introduction to the idea that particles like electrons also behave like waves.

10.de Broglie Wavelength

Understand de Broglie’s relation connecting momentum and wavelength for matter waves.

11.Wave–Particle Duality

Learn how both light and matter can behave like waves or particles depending on the experiment.

12.Davisson–Germer Experiment

How electron diffraction experimentally proved that particles can behave like waves.

13.Applications of Dual Nature

Simple real-life uses of wave–particle duality including electron microscopes and semiconductor theory.