Waves Transporting Matter

Most recent answer: 12/22/2013

Q:
I heard that waves tranported energy but not matter. Then may I ask why electrons travel as waves? They have mass, so they should not be able to move as waves, or so I was taught.
- Duy Nguyen (age 16)
Arizona
A:

Nice question. We always like to see people trying to put together different things they've heard to see if they fit.

People say all sorts of things, but you don't have to believe them. Mass and energy are the same thing (E=mc2) so it doesn't make any sense to say that one is transported via waves and the other isn't.

Electrons and all other things move around as waves if you look in detail on a small scale. (On a large scale, that's not always noticeable.)  So whatever you choose to call matter, it is transported as waves because everything is transported as waves. 

Mike W.


(published on 12/22/2013)