Why do photons do damage to the objects in which they collide into???...tom science?

Answer 1

They don't always do damage. It depends on the photon's frequency. Higher frequencies mean higher energies. Higher energy means greater momentum. So why does a bowling ball do more damage to your foot than a ping pong ball? Same reason.

Answer 2

It does have to do with the frequency of the photon. But this does not explain the relationship of the photon to the mass that it strikes.

Individual photons are composed of a particular frequency. The frequency they exist at is determined by the mass they had last contact with, and what it was that caused the photon to leave that mass. There is a shorthand way of considering the frequency of a photon. It is found in the concept hf = E. "hf" is Planks constant times the frequency of the photon. If Planks constant is a correct number, then multiples of that number will match of with the rest of physical reality, and the frequency times that number will reveal the actual energy imparted to a mass, and that measurement will allign with E = hf.

What happens in a photon having a great frequency value is that more energy "E" is imparted in a shorter time to a particular mass, than if the "E" were of little value.

One way to visualize this concept is found in the old golf balls that were once made. A very long rubber filiment was wound around a small dense rubber core. When intact, the ball was very hard. Were this to have been dropped on a thin sheet of glass, it would have shattered the glass. When the long rubber filiment was unwound and held loose, it could be dropped on the same pane of glass and it would have caused no damage. The energy striking the glass, in the first instance, was all immediate. That found in the second instance was done over a period of time and the energy could be absorbed.

The same concept is found when a soft lead bullet strikes a piece of steel that is much harder than the lead, yet the lead passes through the steel. The energy within the mass (hf = mk - the mass frequency [inertia] times Planks constant) must give up some of the frequency within it in order to cease moving as it was before the steel is able to stop it.

Lastly, I have read that "cosmic photons" have, at times, such a great line density that they are similar to mass in their energy value.

Answer 3

Photons are high energy particles. Then they collide with solid objects, albeit very small solid objects, they can knock an electron out of orbit. This creates a chain reaction, with the atom missing an electron taking one from another near-by atom, and so on. Enough of these reactions happen and eventually the molecule the atoms are part of breaks up.

Answer 4

well yes - that is why bright colors turn dull over time, because the pigment molecule that absorbs the photon (and its energy) can be destroyed by its energy. the more energy the rays carry, the more deadly - that is why radioactivity can cause harm. it all depends on wavelength - i mean whether a specific molecule can absorb specific radiation ( of given wavelenght). for instance the ultraviolet light can be absorbed by DNA and therefore cause mutations. Note that visible light is just one example of radiation and spectrum of what is visible for humans / birds/insects is not he same.. so the transfer of energy shakes the molecule that received it and that is it - some particles can detach if the "blow" is too strong. sorry that i dont have any links at hand. hope it helps

Answer 5

Basically for the same reason baseballs do damage to objects they collide into. This may seem to be oversimplification but it's not really if you think it over for about a minute.