👉 The discovery of light as a particle, known as photons, marked a pivotal moment in the history of physics. In the early 20th century, scientists like Albert Einstein and Max Planck began to challenge classical physics by proposing that light could behave both as a wave and as discrete packets of energy, or quanta. Einstein's explanation of the photoelectric effect in 1905 provided strong evidence for the particle nature of light, suggesting that each photon carries a specific amount of energy proportional to its frequency. This concept was revolutionary because it contradicted the prevailing wave theory of light, which had dominated scientific thought. The experimental confirmation of this particle theory came with the development of technologies like the photoelectric effect detector and the Compton scattering experiment in the 1920s, solidifying the understanding that light can indeed be described by both wave-like and particle-like properties, a duality that is fundamental to quantum mechanics.
