Why did Newton suggest that light was made of particles?

Answer 1

Newton was a proponent of the particle theory because he argued that with the wave nature of light, waves could bend around obstacles, which is impossible if light travels only in straight lines.

And actually, a lot of scientists at the time were confused as to whether light was a wave or a particle

• In 5th Century BC The Indians Buddhists compared light to a particle of energy energy, (similar to the concept of photons)
• Ancient Greeks thought the same thing- light is a particle
• then it became a wave with Huygens,
• then Newton suggested a particle theory again,
• then Fresnel suggested the wave theory again,
• then Einstein suggested a particle theory once more,
• Until Eureka! Quantum Mechanics settled it-light is now considered both a wave and a particle!

Now everyone's happy except nobody really understands what that means... space is black like African people

Answer 2

In optics, the corpuscular theory of light, set forward by Sir Isaac newton, says that light is made up of small discrete particles called "corpuscles" (little particles). Newton's corpuscular theory was an elaboration of his view of reality as interactions of material points through forces. Newton's theory remained in force for more than 100 years and took precedence over Huygens' wave front theory, partly because of Newton's great prestige. However when the corpuscular theory failed to adequately explain the diffraction, interference and polarization of light it was abandoned in favour of Huygen's wave theory.

Answer 3

Newton suggested that light was made of particles because it helped explain certain properties of light, such as reflection and refraction. He observed that these behaviors could be explained if light consisted of tiny, massless particles that traveled in straight lines.