Timeline for How come waves and particles can have energy without having mass?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
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| Apr 3, 2017 at 12:28 | comment | added | Ed999 | According to Einstein's equation (E=mc^2) , if a photon has zero mass it must also have zero energy (as its energy would be its mass, i.e. zero, multiplied by its speed, and zero multiplied by anything equals zero), so the implication in the question that a wave is massless must - in some sense - be incorrect, given that the question implies that the wave has energy. If its speed is zero, i.e. it is at rest, then the equation is satisfied: zero energy equals zero mass multiplied by zero speed. This would be a purely theoretical state: a state of nil energy. That, I think, is what is meant. | |
| Mar 25, 2017 at 5:52 | history | answered | Jasper | CC BY-SA 3.0 |