wave theory
Photons aren't particles
Wave theory proposes that phenomena propagate through oscillations rather than particles.
In physics, it explains light, sound, and other energy as waves traveling through a medium or space.
The term appears in various fields: the wave theory of light competed historically with particle theory, while in linguistics, wave theory describes how language changes spread outward from centers of innovation like ripples in water.
- Huygens' principleWave propagation geometric model
- diffractionWaves spreading past obstacles
- crestHighest point or tuft
- radio wavesLow-frequency electromagnetic radiation
- standing wavesNon-propagating periodic disturbances
sound waves · ripple · ocean waves · optics · electromagnetic waves · seismic waves · interference patterns · holography · Maxwell · trough · spectroscopy · vibration · Huygens · particle · light waves · Fresnel diffraction · medium · photon
- physicsphysics, momentum, atom, acceleration, gravity
- Electricity HistoryMichael Faraday, Faraday, Benjamin Franklin, Franklin, Thomas Edison
- Optics Historytelescope, microscope, lens, prism, refraction
- scientific theoriesevolution, general relativity, relativity, plate tectonics, special relativity
- engineering physicsmechanics, thermodynamics, dynamics, statics, fluid mechanics
- light physicsphoton, refraction, diffraction, wavelength, polarization