only wave, no particle

Redbelly98

Well, by that logic the answer to the OP is pretty simple:

Quote by lazer

Is there anything that can be considered just as a wave and not a particle or any wave that does not have particle?

And we could say "Yes. Light can be considered to be strictly a wave, as long as there are a large enough number of photons present so that the classical notion of light as a continuous wave is a reasonable approximation."

But I thought we were doing away with any such approximations in this discussion, at least that is my interpretation of the OP's question.

By the way, I completely agree with this sentiment:

Quote by Studiot

The wonderful thing about nature is not that perfect continuous media cannot be found, but that an equation only proved in continuous mathematics for continuous media can be applied at all to granular systems.

I just don't think it is relevant to what the OP was asking.

*Studiot*

But I thought we were doing away with any such approximations in this discussion, at least that is my interpretation of the OP's question.

Already answered. There is a difference between stating that a wave requires discrete particles to operate and that a bunch of particles can jump up and down to form a wave.

However if you want mass how about a vibrating string?

The entire medium forms the wave and the analysis does not require the separate existance of oscillating particles within the string.

Nabeshin

Quote by Redbelly98

Well, what about the discrete molecules of water that comprise such a wave?

Of course, I was just giving an example of a classical wave which has no corresponding quantized 'particle', which is what I took the OP to be meaning. I'm still not sure precisely what he is asking, though.

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