light is electromagnetic energy that the human eye can perceive.

Electromagnetic radiation has

a very broad spectrum of wavelengths, ranging from gamma rays with wavelengths smaller than around
1 1011 meter to radio waves with wavelengths measured in metres. Inside that vast spectrum, the
wavelengths visible to humans are contained within a relatively small range, ranging from around 700
nanometres (nm; billionths of a metre) for red light to approximately 400 nm for violet light. The
spectral ranges next to the visible band are sometimes referred to as light as well, from infrared to
ultraviolet. The speed of light in a vacuum is a basic physical constant whose value is now considered to
be exactly 299,792,458 metres per second, or approximately 186,282 miles per second. There is no one
solution to the question "What is light?" that adequately addresses the numerous settings in which light
is experienced, studied, and used. A physicist is concerned with the physical qualities of light, whereas
an artist is concerned with the aesthetics of the visual world. Light is a fundamental instrument for
seeing and communicating with the environment through the sense of sight. The Sun's light heats the
Earth, controls global weather patterns, and begins photosynthesis, the life-sustaining process. On a
grander scale, light's interactions with matter have aided in the shaping of the universe's structure.
Indeed, light gives a window into the cosmos at all sizes, from the cosmic to the atomic.

Electromagnetic radiation carries almost all of the information about the rest of the cosmos to
Earth. Astronomers may peer into the oldest epochs of the cosmos, monitor the universe's overall
expansion, and estimate the chemical composition of stars and the interstellar medium by interpreting
that radiation. Just as the advent of the telescope revolutionized our understanding of the cosmos, the
invention of the microscope revolutionized our understanding of the complex world of the cell. The
study of the light frequencies emitted and absorbed by atoms provided a major motivation for the
creation of quantum mechanics. Atomic and molecular spectroscopies continue to be the principal
instruments for exploring matter's structure, offering ultrasensitive testing of atomic and molecular
models, and contributing to the study of basic photochemical processes. Light is capable of transmitting
both spatial and temporal information. This characteristic underpins optics and optical communications,
as well as a plethora of associated technologies, both established and developing. Lasers, holography,
and fiber-optic telecommunications networks are all examples of technological applications based on
light manipulation. Light is capable of transmitting both spatial and temporal information. This
characteristic underpins optics and optical communications, as well as a plethora of associated
technologies, both established and developing. Lasers, holography, and fiber-optic telecommunications
networks are all examples of technological applications based on light manipulation.

In the majority of daily situations, the characteristics of light can be deduced from classical
electromagnetism, which describes light as a combination of electric and magnetic fields moving across
space as a traveling wave. However, this mid-nineteenth-century wave theory is unable to describe the
characteristics of light at extremely low intensities. A quantum theory is required at that level to explain
the properties of light and the interactions of light with atoms and molecules. Quantum theory, in its
simplest form, explains light as a collection of tiny packets of energy called photons. However, neither a
classical wave model nor a classical particle model really represents light; only quantum physics reveals
light's dual nature. This astounding wave-particle duality is shared by all of nature's fundamental
elements (e.g., electrons have both particle-like and wavelike aspects). Since the mid-20th century,
physicists have viewed a more thorough explanation of light, known as quantum electrodynamics (QED),
as complete. QED is a synthesis of concepts from classical electromagnetism, quantum physics, and
special relativity.