How Does a ‘Light Client’ Utilize the Merkle Root for Verification?
A Light Client (or Simplified Payment Verification, SPV) downloads only the block headers, not the entire block data. To verify if a transaction was included in a block, the Light Client requests a 'Merkle Proof' from a full node.
This proof consists of the transaction and the minimal set of hashes needed to re-calculate the Merkle Root in the block header, confirming its inclusion.
Glossar
Light Client
Architecture ⎊ A Light Client represents a streamlined architectural component in a blockchain network that verifies transactions and block headers without downloading the entire ledger history.
Merkle Root
Derivation ⎊ A Merkle Root functions as a cryptographic commitment to a dataset, representing a single hash value derived from recursively hashing pairs of data blocks within a Merkle tree.