A photon is a tiny packet of light or other electromagnetic energy that behaves like both a particle and a wave.
Coined in 1926 from Greek 'phōs, phōt-' meaning 'light' plus the particle suffix '-on' used in physics (as in 'electron'). It was created to name the quantum of light predicted by early quantum theory.
Every beam of light is actually a huge swarm of photons racing through space. When a camera sensor or your eye detects light, it’s really counting photons hitting it one by one.
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