National League for Nursing (NLN PAX) Practice Exam

In quantum physics, light is fundamentally understood as being made up of particles known as photons. This concept signifies a shift in understanding from classical physics, where light is typically described as a wave. Photons are the elementary particles that carry electromagnetic force, and they embody both wave-like and particle-like properties, which is a key aspect of wave-particle duality.

In this context, photons have no mass and travel at the speed of light in a vacuum, interacting with matter in quantized energy levels. This means that they can be absorbed or emitted in specific amounts of energy, correlating to the frequency of the light.

Understanding light as composed of photons enables scientists to explain various phenomena such as the photoelectric effect, where light can displace electrons from materials, and other interactions where energy levels are quantized. This awareness is crucial for advances in modern physics and technologies, such as lasers and quantum computing.

The other options, while related to physics, do not pertain to the composition of light in quantum terms. Waves describe the propagation of light in classical contexts. Electrons are subatomic particles with mass and negative charge, and protons are positively charged particles found in the nucleus of atoms. Neither of these particles is a component of light itself