Why does light scatter?
In: Physics
Light scatters off of matter because matter is made of electrically charged particles (protons and electrons) and light is an electromagnetic wave. Because both matter and light are interacting with the electromagnetic field they can interact with each other, allowing light to “bounce” off of atoms and molecules similar to how matter can bounce off of other matter.
It won’t (much) in a vacuum but our atmosphere is not a vacuum. The photons of light interact with the atoms of the gas in the atmosphere and this “deflects” some proportion of them. With a lot of light and some thick atmosphere (for example light coming from the sun), it will scatter a bit of it (which results in red sunset and blue skies).
Please clarify, are you talking about particle duality (where it acts as both a particle and wave) or are you talking about diffusion in a room or some such?
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