system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Eli5: Why is light both particle/wave? Could we be getting wrong results due to the method of measurement?
gpt
Light is a particle because it appears to be a discrete, countable thing with a certain amount of energy. We've measured with with the photoelectric effect (Einstein won a Nobel prize for this) where a photon hits an electron, giving it a jolt of energy and we can use this to produce electricity. Measurements and more tests suggest that light is a whole bunch of discrete things.

But they are also waves. They have a frequency and can interact with each other in ways that cancel each other out, like how sound cancelling headphones use frequency shenanigans to block sound. You know how an oil slick on the ground has a rainbow effect? That's wave interference in the light. You can also do it at larger scales with lasers.

The effects gets even weirder with electrons, which are easier to measure, and where you can generate a different interference pattern (wave style, or particle style) on demand with relatively minor changes to your test setup.