PHOTON

A photon is one of the basic structures of the universe. As an elementary particle, it acts as one of the fundamental forces within the electromagnetic field and is considered in the discipline of particle physics to be the basic unit of light. At both the microscopic and macroscopic level, the effects of electromagnetic force as caused by photons can be readily observed in the interactions of the physical world. Photons, since they're an elementary particle, demonstrate the attributes of quantum mechanics, meaning it acts as both a wave and a particle. This can be seen in the fact that photon light is refracted by lenses like waveforms and also measured when accounting for quantitative mass. Photons were first identified by Max Planck in 1900 as “packets” of energy he referred to as quanta. This was followed by research conducted by Albert Einstein, who identified these packets as electromagnetic waves in 1905. Gilbert Lewis, a chemist, finally coined the actual name for photons in 1926, identifying the particles as being a basic element of the universe, thereby not able to be created or destroyed. Identification of photons within physics is denoted as y, while chemistry identifies them as hv. Certain properties exist with photons that make them unique as compared to other elementary particles. First, a photon contains no mass itself. It also has no electrical charge and will not decay within empty space since it has no smaller subparticles. When a charge, either positive or negative, is accelerated near the speed of light, synchrotron radiation is created, causing photons to be released. Additionally, photons can be emitted when the energy of molecules, atoms, or nuclei alter to a lower level. According to quantum physics, when electron-positron annihilation occurs, meaning a particle and antiparticle are eliminated, photon light is also emitted. Due to the fact that photons exhibit properties of both waves and particles, they have a number of applications within industry and technology. The photoelectric effect, the process by which matter emits electrons due to photons landing on metal plates, can be measured by a photomultiplier tube. This helped with the invention of charge-coupled devices, the chips used within digital cameras to make a digital image. Geiger counters use the presence of photons to identify radiation due to the their ability to recognize ionized gas molecules. Molecular biology also uses the concept to study the interaction of proteins by injecting fluorescent molecules into tissue and cells, which react with the photon energy to demonstrate changes.