stylistic:style_transfer, structural:expansion
Matter wave diffraction

According to quantum theory every particle exhibits wave properties and can therefore diffract. Diffraction of electrons and neutrons is one of the powerful arguments in favor of quantum mechanics. The wavelength associated with a particle is the de Broglie wavelength λ = h p, {\displaystyle \lambda ={\frac {h}{p}}\,,} where h {\displaystyle h} is the Planck constant and p {\displaystyle p} is the momentum of the particle (mass × velocity for slow-moving particles). For example, a sodium atom traveling at about 300 m/s would have a de Broglie wavelength of about 50 picometres.

Diffraction of matter waves has been observed for small particles, like electrons, neutrons, atoms, and even large molecules. The short wavelength of these matter waves makes them ideally suited to study the atomic crystal structure of solids, small molecules and proteins.