Wave-particle duality is a tricky topic that makes it tough for Year 13 physics students to understand light.

1. Two Sides of Light:

   • Light acts like both a wave and a particle. This can be confusing because it goes against what we usually learn in classical physics. Students find it hard to connect wave behaviors, like when waves overlap (interference) or bend around edges (diffraction), with particle behaviors, like the photoelectric effect.

2. Difficult Math:

   • To explain how light behaves as both a wave and a particle, we need some complex math. There’s a special wave function ($\psi$) that relates to the energy of light ($E=hf$) and its momentum ($p = \frac{h}{\lambda}$). Students also have to deal with probability ideas from quantum mechanics that aren’t the same as regular physics.

3. What Experiments Show:

   • Experiments like the double-slit experiment make us think more deeply about what we see and measure. They raise questions about how we understand reality and what it means to observe something.

To help students get a better grip on these tough ideas, we should use different methods. This could include hands-on experiments, visual aids, and discussions about what these concepts mean in a real-world context. This way, students can build a clearer understanding and make sense of light's complicated behavior.