Photon

From Glossary of Meteorology



photon

The massless particle that, according to the quantum theory of radiation, carries the smallest discrete amount of electromagnetic energy hν, where h is Planck's constant and ν is the frequency of the associated electromagnetic wave.

Although the photon has no mass it does have (linear) momentum hν/c, where c is the free- space speed of light, and intrinsic angular momentum (spin) h/2π, as evidenced by radiation pressure and radiation torque.


Copyright 2024 American Meteorological Society (AMS). For permission to reuse any portion of this work, please contact permissions@ametsoc.org. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be “fair use” under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 U.S. Code § 107) or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S.Copyright Act (17 USC § 108) does not require AMS’s permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form, such as on a website or in a searchable database, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statement, require written permission or a license from AMS. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policy statement.