Timeline for Why does light not slow down?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
18 events
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| Oct 26, 2018 at 6:29 | comment | added | mikuszefski | @Anthony The short answer is: In vacuum, yes. If the wave/photon travels in matter things become more complicated. This is a whole story for itself. | |
| Oct 25, 2018 at 16:01 | comment | added | Anthony | So, if I'm understanding your point about wavelength change, when light loses momentum, it doesn't slow down but it "changes color". A massless object must move at the speed of light (c), but interactions with such an object will change it in other ways (wavelength, as I understand your answer). | |
| Apr 13, 2017 at 12:58 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
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| Apr 13, 2017 at 12:39 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
replaced http://physics.stackexchange.com/ with https://physics.stackexchange.com/
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| Feb 25, 2015 at 10:08 | history | edited | mikuszefski | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
properties of approximation in case of large wavelength added
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| Feb 23, 2015 at 15:26 | comment | added | mikuszefski | @Jiminion Yes, look at the end of my answer where I address this point. | |
| Feb 23, 2015 at 14:58 | comment | added | Jiminion | This might be incorrect, but if a photon imparted momentum, the resulting (expelled) photon would still be moving at c, but with a longer wavelength, showing that some energy was lost from the photon. | |
| Feb 23, 2015 at 14:55 | comment | added | Jiminion | @mikuszefski you are correct. The paddles move with the white panels moving forward, which is indicative of a heat gradient, and not a momentum transfer. | |
| Feb 23, 2015 at 14:10 | comment | added | mikuszefski | @Jiminion, the way how and why these radiometer move is very delicate. Movement is more likely to come from heating the black part via absorption therefore creating a heat gradient in the residual gas. The whole thing is so fragile that I doubt that anybody attached magnets, but it is, in theory, not impossible. | |
| Feb 23, 2015 at 14:02 | comment | added | Jiminion | @CuriousWebDeveloper, consider radiometers, which move due to photon absorbtion/momentum. But they are too small and delicate to be a solar energy source. [I dunno if anyone has but magnets on a radiometer to generate electricity....] | |
| Feb 23, 2015 at 13:58 | history | edited | mikuszefski | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
link added
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| Feb 23, 2015 at 13:32 | history | edited | mikuszefski | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
factor 2 correction
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| Feb 23, 2015 at 11:33 | history | edited | mikuszefski | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Edit 2, comment on energy transfer and renewable energies
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| Feb 20, 2015 at 13:33 | comment | added | mikuszefski | Well, the momentum transfer resulting in energy transfer is sort of hypothetical, and of no interest in relevant systems. So no, this is not the mechanism behind solar power and typical photon related "energy-transfer"; in photovoltaics the photon gets absorbed. Or energy wise: why would you reflect if you can absorb? I also doubt that this is useful for any type of energy conversion except for the above mentioned light propulsion. | |
| Feb 19, 2015 at 15:28 | vote | accept | CuriousWebDeveloper | ||
| Feb 19, 2015 at 15:27 | comment | added | CuriousWebDeveloper | Out of curiosity sparked by this answer and comments: If light does apply a force and furthermore, can be disrupted resulting in a conversion to heat energy, is this the principle behind solar power, or might that make some new form of solar energy conversion a possibility? | |
| Feb 19, 2015 at 11:31 | history | edited | mikuszefski | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Feb 19, 2015 at 10:39 | history | answered | mikuszefski | CC BY-SA 3.0 |