The photon is the particle that mediates the electromagnetic force. In the Standard Model, it is the massless gauge boson associated with electromagnetism, linking interactions between electrically charged particles.
Photons are also the quantum particles of electromagnetic radiation. Visible light, radio waves, microwaves, X-rays, and gamma rays are all forms of electromagnetic radiation, distinguished by frequency and energy. A photon’s energy is proportional to its frequency through the relation E = hf, where h is Planck’s constant.
The electromagnetic force is commonly described in quantum electrodynamics as interactions involving the exchange of virtual photons. These virtual particles are mathematical components of the interaction and should not be confused with the real photons that can be detected as light. Photons have zero electric charge, zero rest mass, and spin 1.
The wrong options belong to other interactions: gluons mediate the strong force, while W and Z bosons mediate the weak interaction. Because the photon is massless, electromagnetic effects can have effectively unlimited range, unlike the short-range weak force.