Question

The particles that display dual nature of both waves and particles are: -
A. Protons
B. Electrons
C. Mesons
D. Neutrons

Answer 1

Hint: We have learned that in $1923$, a French physicist named Louis de Broglie proposed a hypothesis to explain the theory of the atomic structures. He hypothesized that particles hold properties of waves by using a series of substitution. His experiments were tested by other scientists by shooting electrons and rays of lights through slits. They discovered that electrons acted the same way as light.

Complete step by step answer:
We know that an electron is a tiny, negatively charged particle that revolves around the nucleus of an atom. By de Broglie’s experiment it was noted that the electron possesses two nature i.e. it acts as a particle as well as a wave.
For example- The particle behaves as a particle when we try to explain the photoelectric effect while it acts as a wave in experiments like diffraction
Initially people considered electrons to have only particle nature but then they could not explain the experimental observations like diffraction where electron acts as a particle also if we consider electrons to be completely having wave nature, then we will not be able to explain the experimental observations like photoelectric effect. So, the only reasonable solution was that electrons possess both particle and a wave nature.

Hence, option (B) is correct.

Note:The wave particle duality cannot be reasonably explained by the scientists. This limitation of the classical approach led to the foundation of a new statistical theory, called quantum mechanics which was put in place by Bohr, Erwin Schrodinger, Werner Heisenberg and Paul Dirac. This gave rise to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle.