How can light be a wave and particle at the same time?

[gronk]

TL;DR

How light can be a wave and particle at the same time.

I don't even have enough education in physics to even be considered a novice. And this might be a 'duh' observation. To begin with consider that we don't properly conceive what light really is. We define it in ways that we can work with it. What we define could just be like shining a flashlight on something and defining it by it's shadow. But if you rotate the object 90 degrees and shine the flashlight on it, it's shadow looks completely different.

 

[Matterwave]

The "light is both a particle and a wave" description is a rather outdated and non-precise description of our understanding of light.

In certain experiments like the single or double slit diffraction experiment we see wave-like behavior in that light diffracts. Diffraction is something we describe with wave mechanics.

In other experiments like photoelectric effect experiments light is shown to come in basic "quanta" and exhibits particle-like behavior.

The above two statements don't necessarily imply "light is both a particle and a wave".