Final answer:
Photons travel at the speed of light and do not travel longer physical distances due to light's wave-like properties. The speed of photons and the speed of light are equal, as photons move through space at the constant speed of light. The wave characteristics, like diffraction and interference, pertain to the behavior of light as a wave but don't suggest that photons take longer paths.
Step-by-step explanation:
The speed of light is a constant value in a vacuum, typically denoted as 'c' and is approximately 2.99792458 x 108 meters per second. Photons are indeed the particles that constitute light, but their movement is not physically longer due to the wave-like nature of light. When we describe light as a wave, we're referring to the oscillations in the electromagnetic fields that make up light. This wavelike behavior does not imply that photons are traveling a longer physical path but represents the changing electric and magnetic fields as they propagate through space. Therefore, the speed of photons is not greater than the speed of light; they are one and the same - photons travel through space at the speed of light.
The concept that photons move in a 'longer distance' than light itself is a misconception since light's wave-like properties don't change the distance the photons travel; they still move along a straight line. The wave characteristics of light, such as diffraction and interference, are properties of the wave itself and do not imply a longer travel distance for the individual photons. Photons are elementary particles that exhibit both wave-like and particle-like properties, a duality described by quantum mechanics.
Furthermore, the concept of light 'weakening' with distance refers to the distribution of light over a larger area, not a slowing or lengthening of the photon’s path. This weakening is explained by the inverse square law, which states that the intensity of light is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source.