The definition of a photon is a particle that has energy and movement; but, it does not have mass or electrical charge.
Facts About Photons
- Photons are elementary particles and are known as the quantum of the electromagnetic food.
- These types of particles cannot be divided into sub-components like other particles of matter.
- Photons are unique and stand out from other particles because of their properties. This is because photons have the properties of waves as well as the properties of a normal particle. This means that it can be refracted by a lens and interfere with other waves while simultaneously being analyzed as a particle of matter.
- Photons are also unique in the sense that they are particles with no mass.
- Photons also do not decay similar to other particles and they also carry no electrical charge.
- Polarized lighting is formed from the properties of photons because of the particle’s ability to move across two planes simultaneously. This means they are able to move both vertically and horizontally across planes.
- Typically a photon moves through empty space at the speed of light. However, when a photon hits other particles of matter it will slow down considerably.
- Another unique characteristic of photons is that they are always in motion. This is especially true if they are in a vacuum. Photons move at a constant velocity of approximately the speed of light which is measured to be 2.9929x10 to the 8th power per second.
- Photons are destroyed when radiation is emitted and have zero mass and no energy when at rest.
- An example of a photon is a carrier of an electromagnetic force.
- An example of a photon is what is created when the sun converts particles into both heat and light.
- Particle Physics a subatomic particle, having energy and momentum but no mass or electric charge, that is the quantum unit of electromagnetic radiation, including light
- a unit of retinal illumination equal to the illumination from a surface having a brightness of one candle per sq meter seen through a pupil area of one sq millimeter
Origin of photonphot(o)- + (electr)on
photon - Computer Definition
- A quantum of electromagnetic energy, a photon is a subatomic particle that has energy and momentum, but no mass or electric charge. A photon demonstrates wave and particle properties when in motion, but demonstrates no physical properties when at rest. See also electromagnetic spectrum and wave.
- A unit of light intensity at the retina equal to the illumination of one candle per square meter received through a pupil area of one square millimeter. See also candle and light.
A quantum of electromagnetic energy. Like electrons, photons appear as both waves and particles at the same time. Quite often, a photon is said to be a "particle of light;" however, radio transmission, X-rays and gamma rays are also made up of particles. Although they may not always be called photons, they are the same phenomena at different frequencies. The energy of an individual photon is proportional to its frequency, which is why a single photon of light has more energy than a photon in the radio spectrum below it. A single light photon can cause a neuron in your retina to fire or convert silver iodide to silver and iodine on photographic film. However, a single radio photon is nearly impossible to detect, and all by itself, is not doing anything that we want to measure. See photoelectric, photonic and wave-particle duality.