com.ple.men.tar.i.ty [kom-pluh-men-tar-i-tee]
The concept that the underlying properties of entities (especially subatomic particles) may manifest themselves in contradictory forms at different times, depending on the conditions of observation; thus, any physical model of an entity exclusively in terms of one form or the other will be necessarily incomplete. For example, although a unified quantum mechanical understanding of such phenomena as light has been developed, light sometimes exhibits properties of waves and sometimes properties of particles (an example of wave-particle duality). See also uncertainty principle.
"complementarity." The American Heritage® Science Dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Company. 31 Jan. 2007. Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/complementarity
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