Written by the Fiveable Content Team โข Last updated September 2025
Verified for the 2026 exam
Verified for the 2026 examโขWritten by the Fiveable Content Team โข Last updated September 2025
Definition
Photons are particles of light that carry energy and have zero mass. They behave both as particles and waves, and their energy is directly proportional to their frequency.
Related terms
Photo-electrons: When photons strike certain materials, they can knock out electrons from the material's surface. These ejected electrons are called photo-electrons.
Einstein relationship: The Einstein relationship states that the energy (E) of a photon is equal to Planck's constant (h) multiplied by its frequency (f), expressed as E = hf.
This term refers to the concept that particles like photons can exhibit both wave-like and particle-like behavior depending on how they are observed or interacted with.