Are Photons & Electrons Particles or Waves? Make up your mind god!

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Chapters:
00:00 - World is quantized
2:17 - How de Broglie found particle wave duality
4:30 - Is a photon a wave or particle? Double slit experiment
7:59 - What is the wave function
9:57 - What is a particle intuitively?
10:34 - Why don't large things behave like quantum objects?
11:07 - What is de Broglie wavelength?
13:50 - What is a particle?

Summary:
By the end of 1905, we had two big new equations in physics. Max Planck’s, Energy equals Planck’s constant times the frequency, and Einstein’s Energy equals the mass times the speed of light squared. A young physicist, Louis Debroglie decided to combined them: MC^2 = hf, Since c and h are constants, if you ignore them, it simplifies to M = f – mass is essentially equal to frequency.

But how can mass equal frequency because these are two completely different things. Mass is associated with particles. Frequency is associated with a wave.

Waves like water waves and sound waves can disappear, but the particles doing the waving would still be there. What is doing the waving in quantum objects? Quantum mechanics says that that the particle is not only a particle but is also a wave. They are not separate.

This duality can be demonstrated with the double slit experiment. The original experiment done by Thomas Young in 1801 showed that light is a wave. But modern versions of this experiment show that individual photons of light behave like waves, but behave like particles if measured. But why did it change when we measured it? What caused this change to occur. This is the measurement problem in physics. There is no definitive answer.

What does the wave function in quantum mechanics mean? For Newtonian mechanics, the primary equation is F = MA – Force equals mass times acceleration. Using this if we know the initial position, velocity, and all the forces acting on a particle, I can tell you its exact position at a later time.

The primary equation for quantum mechanics is the Schrodinger equation. In this equation, instead of solving for the particle’s position, we need to solve it for something called the wave function.
Now what is psi – the wavefunction? It is a mathematical expression that represents the state of a quantum system. It is related to the probability of finding the particle in a particular location. Specifically, the square of the norm of the wave function gives you the probability density of the particle. Solving this for an object, I can't tell you where the particle will be. I can only tell you the probability of where you might find it if you measured it.

So quantum objects are kind of smeared across space. They are not like little balls that we can point to and say – it’s there, and it’s moving this fast. All matter behaves like this including things like sand grains, basketballs, and even your body.

But if that is the case, then why don’t basketballs behave the way electrons do – like waves smeared across space? The answer is because the wave behavior of objects that we can see with our eyes, like sand grains or even dust particles is so small that we do not notice it.

To understand why, we have to invoke de Broglie. He believed particles and waves have the same traits, and he derived an equation that describes this. He came up with the de Broglie wavelength, lambda is equal to h, Planck’s constant over mass times velocity, which is also momentum.

Using this relationship, we can find the wavelength of any particle. Solving for an electron in a hydrogen atom, its wavelength is 3.3 x 10^-10 meters. The wavelength of a grain of sand moving 10 m/s would have a wavelength of 10^-25 meters. And for larger things like a basketball, the wavelength would be even smaller - 10^-34 meters. This is not measurable.
#waveparticleduality
A wavelength is one quantum of action. The smaller the wavelength, the less quantum-like the object is. If the wavelength becomes extremely small, any action of that object appears to be continuous. This is why we don’t notice any quantum behavior in macro scale objects. The smaller the wavelength, the less the wavy-ness the object has.
This is why particles with large wavelengths compared to their size like electrons, photons, and other quantum objects exhibit wavelike and thus quantum-like behavior.

[eugenebrown]

I asked whether light is a particle or a wave to my high school physics teacher. She just said both and moved on. I finally got a satisfactory explanation 32 years later. Thank you because your video satisfied my curiosity.

[Tyletoful]

I mean this in the most positive way. I've been putting on your videos at night to fall asleep to and they put me right to sleep. I love the education I get as I drift off into dreamland. Thanks for your hard work!

[tomaaron]

Top notch. A great presentation of information without any dumbing down.

I’ve been in the sciences for almost a half century. A thousand articles and video later, I still find the quantum world (reality) more fascinating than anything in fiction.

[antonyjohnson]

Every time I watch a video like this, I feel like I'm dreaming that I'm entering an alternative universe. Then, I wake up and realise it is actually describing our very own. Very intriguing as always, thankyou Arvin.

[johnp]

Good video. I've watched many videos about this subject but I still learn something new in this video.

[Gamer-xbeo]

When Arvin says That's coming right now and the music comes i am like doing a headbang

[clintdesmond]

I've been aware of the double-slit experiment for about 15 years. I never really understood it. And when I would read/hear about the act of measuring something could affect the way a wave/particle behaves never really made any sense to me. Arvin's style of presenting is beautiful to watch. After discovering him today on Youtube, I'm excited again about persuing a career in Physics.

[istvansipos]

"in the end, it ISN'T even matter" (as Linkin Park would say these days)

[primajump]

All I can say is, “Wow!”. Arvin, you are the best hands down when it comes to explain stuff with such elegance and clarity. Thank you.

[tanjohnny]

So i started to wave to everyone i meet because they are waving at me in the quantum level.😄

[quantumbytes]

I have recommended this channel to many of my friends. Arvin Ash sir really explains the things in simple and interesting ways. I do not miss any video from this channel. Really appreciable

[bprde]

Your videos redeem what the Internet was originally conceived to be - an equal medium for the exchange of knowledge. Keep it up!

[Sidtube]

The end teaser knocks your socks off!! There are no particles. Everything is a wave!!! A wave in a quantum field!!

[johnboze]

All Elementary Particles are made of liquified EM Fields meaning ... All Particles are vortices of Quantum Superfluid made of a Bose Einstein Condensate of Trillions and Trillions of Quantum Sized Electromagnetic Kinetic Dipole Particles that when in vacuum form the quantum level Bose Gas of EM Kinetic Dipoles that fill all of space and they total to an average mass of 10^(-18) per cubic meter of Vacuum. We just call it the EM field, like it was magic, but it is Nikola Tesla's Quantum Gas (EM Field) he used to invent AC Current.

The quantum superfluid in particles in moving around according to QSF wavefunction.

Particles are waves of EM Kinetic Dipoles trapped in Potential Well formed by the vortices of QSF.

Vacuum EM Field Kinetic Dipole Pressure form dipole collisions is greater than the negative pressure of the particle vortices so the particles dipoles behave as a group or a "particle".

EM Field Quantum Kinetic Dipole Compression tech is used in both USA and C C P UAPs EM "warp drives" that produce magneto-gravitational effects and do 50g's at 10, 000mph++. NASA and DoD have known this since the 70's and 80's when my father helped launch 8 Apollo and Skylab Missions from inside the Firing Room. He knew Wernher von Braun and they KNEW that gravity was caused by the EM field made of EM Dipoles. Superconductor tech in the 80s made the first Warp Drives fly in the 90's and the Chinese stole the design. The UAPs are Chinese warp drive drones flying since the late 90's.

Gravitons and EM Field Kinetic Particles are the EXACT SAME PARTICLE.

Just ask the guys who just filed the Navy UFO patents. # FiringRoom1

[AmitKumar-nqwk]

From γ = h/mv if a body is at rest then it will make the denominator zero since its velocity would be zero. Doesnt it makes the wavelength infinite? And if it does, what does it mean?
The same could be said for massleess particles like photon.

[potawatomi]

Arvin Ash is exemplary of an individual that has a deep understanding of the subject matter because his talent at explaining it in simple terms is unsurpassed. I admire your achievements in astrophysics Arvin, and I’m a devoted follower.

[rod]

OUTSTANDING Explanation 👍🏽 👍🏽 👍🏽 All is energy/light... We exist in a vast sea of energy. We are energy! So depending on your relative observation it is BOTH a wave and a particle.

[zacimusprime]

I’m 22 years of age and I’m only now just starting to truly understand things

[yashgodara]

Thankyou so much. While watching this video I discovered one more phenomena of universe by de broglie's formula. Thankyou so much

[LQhristian]

Another great video!! It is so counter intuitive that the larger the object, the smaller the wavelength!? Interestingly, if the mass was not the denominator in the equation, with lambda=mv/h, then the results would be consistent with what we see in the macro world (bigger objects having lower resonance). Just a thought!