How does wave particle duality happen?

Question

How can matter and energy exist as a wave and particle? Now im just asking for opinions here.

Answer 1

It's not so much a question of how it happens, but rather a question of what explanation (or mathematical model) works best at what scale. For larger bodies - anything bigger than a molecule - particle theories are adequate to explain most phenomena, while for smaller bodies, wave theory works better.

Actually all bodies have both particle and wave properties. It's just that for larger bodies, the wavelength is so small it is insignificant. See the following excerpt from Wikipedia:

The idea of duality is rooted in a debate over the nature of light and matter dating back to the 1600s, when competing theories of light were proposed by Christiaan Huygens and Isaac Newton. Through the work of Albert Einstein, Louis de Broglie, and many others, current scientific theory holds that all particles also have a wave nature.This phenomenon has been verified not only for elementary particles, but also for compound particles like atoms and even molecules. In fact, according to traditional formulations of non-relativistic quantum mechanics, wave–particle duality applies to all objects, even macroscopic ones; we can't detect wave properties of macroscopic objects due to their small wavelengths.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave-partic...

Answer 2

You can't understand quantum mechanics until you stop trying to view things from a classical point of view.  Photons and electrons and all their friends are not particles in the classical sense nor are they waves.  They are what they are.  As one author put it, calling them "slithy toves" is a more accurate description because it frees you from your intuition, which will lead you astray until you learn to trust the math and retune it.