Graduate Does Matter Really Move Like a Wave and Hit Like a Particle?

[elou]

TL;DR

Waves are a perceptual phenomena, not a physical one

This is meant as a challenge to look more closely than we usually do to the concepts of "wave" and "particle". You often hear that matters moves as a wave but hits at a particle, making it sound like a super Mohamed Ali's "move like a butterfly and sting like a bee".
To give a simple example I would say that, as a group, water molecules move like a wave, but each molecule moves like a particle.

 

[Dale]

We can physically measure waves with physical devices in a variety of physical experiments, so saying that they are not physical is rather unjustifiable.

 

[elou]

What is being measured is of course physical. But what is being measured?
We all know that all water molecules do is move up and down, and hardly forward and backward. We certainly see a wave, but if we slowed down our vision a few million times or more, all we would see are individual molecules moving up and down.

 

[Dale]

What is being measured is of course physical. But what is being measured?

A wave. What is measured has all of the properties and behaviors that a wave is supposed to have, so it is a wave.

If an object walks like a duck and quacks like a duck and has all of the other properties and behaviors attributed to ducks then it is a duck.

 

[Nugatory]

You often hear that matters moves as a wave but hits at a particle,

Yes, we often hear that. It is an attempt to simplify quantum mechanics by describing quantum mechanics in layman-friendly language, not an accurate explanation of how quantum mechanics works and the role of "waves" in the theory.

Because the starting point of this thread is a misconception we are closing the thread.
OP is reminded of the forum rule about acceptable sources - "will often hear" is not the starting point for an informed discussion..