photon
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See also: Photon
English
Etymology
From photo- + -on. Coined by American physicist Leonard Troland in 1916 as a unit of light hitting the retina, and later popularized in a more modern sense by Gilbert N. Lewis, with the term gaining acceptance in the physics community by the late 1920s.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈfəʊtɒn/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - Rhymes: -əʊtɒn
Noun
photon (plural photons)
- (particle physics) The quantum of light and other electromagnetic energy, regarded as a discrete particle having zero rest mass, no electric charge, and an indefinitely long lifetime. It is a gauge boson.
- 2013 July-August, Fenella Saunders, “Tiny Lenses See the Big Picture”, in American Scientist:
- The single-imaging optic of the mammalian eye offers some distinct visual advantages. Such lenses can take in photons from a wide range of angles, increasing light sensitivity. They also have high spatial resolution, resolving incoming images in minute detail.
Derived terms
Translations
quantum of light
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See also
Anagrams
French
Pronunciation
Noun
photon m (plural photons)
Further reading
- “photon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.