[troutman]

Originally Posted by evman150

The photon does not have a shady past. And yes they do know what light is made of.

Light is quantized. The quanta are called photons. Each photon has a characteristic wavelength (or frequency). Photons have no mass. They have a momentum (which I just realized is not equal to hf, but hf/c).

Light also acts as a wave. This is what you are most likely thinking of when you say the photon has a "shady past". How can something be a particle and a wave at the same time? Googling "wave particle duality" does wonders.

http://physics.about.com/od/lightopt...veparticle.htm

That sums it up very nicely. Too much nomenclature though maybe, not sure.