Providing the basis of nineteenth century physics, Youngs...

Providing the basis of nineteenth century physics, Youngs Double Slit Experiment proved that light was made up of waves. During Thomas Young’s time, it was very difficult to describe the behavior of light. The predominant theory was that light was made up of particles. However, in his experiment, Young was able to observe the interaction of light waves when passed through two slits, showing the wave-like nature of light. This report will cover the reasons for Young’s experiment, the experiment itself, and its implications. The question Thomas Young sought to resolve was whether light was made of a stream of particles or waves. Sir Isaac Newton, a strong proponent of the particle theory, showed that a white light beam passing through†¦show more content†¦The places where the tops meet create the bright spots and the places where the waves cancel each other out creates the dark spots. Therefore, Young’s experiment showed that light had a wave-like nature. Concluding that light was wave-like in behavior, Thomas Young was able to develop an equation that relates a light’s wavelength, the separation between slits, the distance between the slits and the screen, and fringe spacing. The results of Young’s experiment confused physicists because they didn’t know how light could travel in particles and behave like a wave. Believing that the results were because a group of particles formed a wave, physicists repeated the experiment but shot one photon at a time. However, the screen continued to reflect an interference pattern, confirming the wave theory once again. To physicists, this was impossible. Therefore, they attempted to determine which slit the photon went through. However, when a detector was placed in the experiment, the resulting pattern changed. Physicists concluded that light can behave as both a particle and a wave, and is influenced by the experiment and observations. In summation, Young’s Double Sli t Experiment showed that light could behave like a wave not just a particle, making a way for physicists to delve deeper into quantum mechanics. Physicists were able to use