Timeline for If I'm floating in space and I turn on a flashlight, will I accelerate?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
14 events
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| May 15, 2014 at 17:10 | comment | added | DavePhD | @HelloWorld I wouldn't says n is a constant. If we said X=1, then n would just be the number of photons. Otherwise, n is a ratio of the number of photons in the two situations, and n is also a ratio of the wavelengths in the two situations. | |
| May 15, 2014 at 16:55 | comment | added | Hello World | That's indeed a better way to say it, n has to be a constant. Does this constant have a name? | |
| May 15, 2014 at 16:48 | history | edited | DavePhD | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| May 15, 2014 at 16:41 | comment | added | DavePhD | @HelloWorld yes, but it would be better to say: the same energy could be transformed to nX photons of nM wavelength, to yield the same total momentum, even though the momentum and energy per photon is different | |
| May 15, 2014 at 16:32 | comment | added | Hello World | So the same energy either generates X photons with M wavelength or X+k photons with M+n wavelength? And in both cases momentum output is the same? (All variables are positive numbers) | |
| May 15, 2014 at 16:02 | comment | added | DavePhD | @C4stor The question "does the wavelength of the light matter" is somewhat vague, I'm saying it matters on a per photon basis, and John is saying it doesn't matter on a per total energy basis, so I don't think there is any disagreement. | |
| May 15, 2014 at 16:00 | comment | added | garyp | @JohnRennie expressed his answer in terms of the power of the flashlight. That is the sensible way to approach it IMO, and in those terms the wavelength doesn't matter. But wavelength does appear in the analysis. It would be possible to ask a similar but different question for which wavelength does matter, so pay attention to the exact wording of a question. | |
| May 15, 2014 at 15:54 | history | edited | DavePhD | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| May 15, 2014 at 15:51 | comment | added | DavePhD | @paqogomez momentum per photon = (Planck's constant)/wavelength. | |
| May 15, 2014 at 15:48 | comment | added | C4stor | @JohnRennie provided verifiable equations to make his point, so I'd go with him. | |
| May 15, 2014 at 15:45 | comment | added | crthompson | So which is it? @JohnRennie says wavelength doesnt matter, but yours says yes. | |
| May 15, 2014 at 15:15 | history | edited | DavePhD | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| May 15, 2014 at 14:42 | history | edited | JamalS | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| May 15, 2014 at 14:33 | history | answered | DavePhD | CC BY-SA 3.0 |