<P> In 1900 , the German physicist Max Planck was studying black - body radiation and suggested that the energy carried by electromagnetic waves could only be released in `` packets '' of energy . In his 1901 article in Annalen der Physik he called these packets `` energy elements '' . The word quanta ( singular quantum , Latin for how much ) was used before 1900 to mean particles or amounts of different quantities , including electricity . In 1905 , Albert Einstein suggested that electromagnetic waves could only exist as discrete wave - packets . He called such a wave - packet the light quantum ( German : das Lichtquant ) . The name photon derives from the Greek word for light , φῶς ( transliterated phôs ) . Arthur Compton used photon in 1928 , referring to Gilbert N. Lewis . The same name was used earlier , by the American physicist and psychologist Leonard T. Troland , who coined the word in 1916 , in 1921 by the Irish physicist John Joly , in 1924 by the French physiologist René Wurmser ( 1890 - 1993 ) and in 1926 by the French physicist Frithiof Wolfers ( 1891 - 1971 ) . The name was suggested initially as a unit related to the illumination of the eye and the resulting sensation of light and was used later in a physiological context . Although Wolfers 's and Lewis 's theories were contradicted by many experiments and never accepted , the new name was adopted very soon by most physicists after Compton used it . </P>
<P> In 1900 , the German physicist Max Planck was studying black - body radiation and suggested that the energy carried by electromagnetic waves could only be released in `` packets '' of energy . In his 1901 article in Annalen der Physik he called these packets `` energy elements '' . The word quanta ( singular quantum , Latin for how much ) was used before 1900 to mean particles or amounts of different quantities , including electricity . In 1905 , Albert Einstein suggested that electromagnetic waves could only exist as discrete wave - packets . He called such a wave - packet the light quantum ( German : das Lichtquant ) . The name photon derives from the Greek word for light , φῶς ( transliterated phôs ) . Arthur Compton used photon in 1928 , referring to Gilbert N. Lewis . The same name was used earlier , by the American physicist and psychologist Leonard T. Troland , who coined the word in 1916 , in 1921 by the Irish physicist John Joly , in 1924 by the French physiologist René Wurmser ( 1890 - 1993 ) and in 1926 by the French physicist Frithiof Wolfers ( 1891 - 1971 ) . The name was suggested initially as a unit related to the illumination of the eye and the resulting sensation of light and was used later in a physiological context . Although Wolfers 's and Lewis 's theories were contradicted by many experiments and never accepted , the new name was adopted very soon by most physicists after Compton used it . </P>
who introduced the term photon to represent a packet of light energy
who introduced the term photon to represent a packet of light energy
Leonard T. Troland
Leonard T. Troland