# Photon torpedo

StationZero
I'm trying to differentiate the wave-particle duality of light-photons in order to understand what exactly distinguishes a single photon of light. I'm looking for a simplified, I'll even take an oversimplified, definition. I reviewd the wiki pages on photons/polarization, etc. and it's a morass of terms and equations that isn't helping me. I guess, conceptually I'm wondering if a single photon is composed of a single oscillation in the EM field propogating at c. Is it a short series of oscillations? Is it something of a traveling "wave packet" that has a central peak that decays symmetrically, or is something else?

Also, I know a photon has zero resting mass and spin 1, but how could one visualize one traveling through space? A little squiggling sideways S? A wavefront like so, ")"? An ellipse like a photon torpedo from Star Trek? I guess my challenge is to try to describe and define it while eschewing an avisual desciption of it in leiu of equations. Anyone?