When it enters the eyes, is light a particle or wave? If so, what happens to this particle or wave when it is ‘seen’? Is it absorbed physically?
In: Biology
As it always is with light: it’s complicated.
Light interacts with itself as a wave, which is actually why blue eyes exist (the light destructively interferes with itself in the iris)
When the light is absorbed by the retina, it can hit one of 4 (or more for some people) cells. Rod cells (which sense light level and nothing more) or the 3 (sometimes 4 or more) types of cone cells which are sensitive to specific bands of the spectrum. The light interacts with these cells as a particle. When the light is absorbed, it causes the cell to release a signal, causing you to see a single point of light
The light itself is converted to a negligible amount of heat energy, unless it is a focused or incredibly intense amount (looking at a laser or the sun). Then not only are the cells damaged by being overloaded with light, but the retina can be physically burned.
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