Why do we say that an electron a dual wave-particle?

1 Answer
Truong-Son N.
Nov 25, 2017

The electron is obviously a particle, but given that it is a very small particle (on the order of #10^(-9) "nm"#), it exhibits significant wave characteristics, and thus we say it is a dual wave-particle.

This wave characteristic of mass-ive particles is shown in the de Broglie relation:

#lambda = h/(mv)#,

where the wavelength is #lambda# in #"m"#, and the mass is #m# in #"kg"#. #h = 6.626 xx 10^(-34) "J"cdot"s"# is Planck's constant, and #v# is the speed of the non-photonic particle in #"m/s"#.

And since the electron is small enough, one generally observes not the state given by the wave function #psi#, but the probability density given by #psi^"*" psi#, i.e. the time-averaged superposition of waves in a given space.

[If the electron were not also a wave, we would know its position more precisely.]

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