[Physics] Difference between de Broglie wavelength and electromagnetic wavelength

quantum mechanicswave-particle-duality

What is the difference between de Broglie wavelength and wavelength of electromagnetic radiation? Is there any relation between $\lambda=\dfrac{hc}{E}$ and $\lambda= \dfrac{h}{mv}$? (E stands for energy of electromagnetic radiation.)

Best Answer

Yes, there is a relationship. The base relationship is between an object's momentum and its de Broglie wavelength: $$ \lambda = \frac{h}{p}. $$ For a particle that is not moving at relativistic velocities ($v \ll c$), we have $p = mv$ and so the relationship becomes $\lambda = h/mv$. However, for a photon, its momentum is not equal to $mv$; instead $p = E/c$, where $E$ is the photon's energy. If you plug this in to the above relationship, you obtain $\lambda = hc/E$.

You may be wondering why a photon has a different relationship between its momentum and its velocity than a conventional particle does. That's probably a separate question, and one that I'm confident has been answered many times on this site; I would encourage you to search this site for "photon momentum" for answers to this.

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