does light contain matter?

Question

if light energy exists when we switch on a torch, does it mean we can create light? does it also mean that light consists of matter from which it has been formed from the battery of the torch? Explain in detail

I want to know how is it that the battery of a torch has lost just a little amount of energy to switch on and to give out light. shouldn't it have used much energy to give out the light(photons) and make it travel at such a high speed we know.

Answer 1

Light is basically active matter. Matter and energy are equivalent. Matter is frozen energy. Energy is active matter.

Answer 2

Light is not matter

Light exists in the form of "particles" called photons, which have zero mass. Matter, by definition has mass.

At a much more fundamental level, string theory would predict that all particles, with or without mass, are all made from different combinations of the abstract notion of "strings". But that is at a much deeper level than is needed to answer the question.

When a light bulb emits light is does so by the following process. The battery changes chemical energy in electrical energy (creates a voltage) which causes a current to flow through the bulb. The light bulb has a high resistance tungsten wire (the filament) that heats up when the current flows through it (same as the heater element in your toaster). The temperature of the wire rises to the point where it glows. Every material at a temperature above absolute zero radiates photons, and the energy distribution of the photons changes with the temperature of the object. The heating element in the toaster glows red because, while it is hot, it is not that hot. If you could increase the current through it, it would glow yellow and then white. This is what happens inside the bulb.

Answer 3

Light is a photon. When an electron decays or drop to a lower energy level it emits a photon and that energy gives off the photon. Yet it takes matter like a certain filament to enable the electrons to move around in its energy levels. Do not confuse light or photon with matter and mass. Light doesn't contain matter.

Answer 4

It is correct to say that light constitutes a form of energy and can change the particles occupying specific states in terms of energy level occupancy, but, as light travels at such a quick pace, it lies at the extreme boundaries of our physical intuition and so no light does not transfer itself into mass and so cannot become matter...
Do not in any means whatsoever believe what the above are saying...photon is a form or quanta of energy, matter is a completely different physical concept!!

Answer 5

I have read all the answers. As matter and energy are equivalent light also has its equivalent mass. Light of frequency 'f' would have mass equivalent to hf divided by square of c. But it is such a mass which not only cannot be brought to rest but also cannot move with any other velocity different from c. Such mass particles are called photons. They move with only one velocity that is c. If you try to stop them they are destroyed and their energy gets transformed into other forms of energy of the system which tries to stop it.

Light and heat can also be considered as energies in transit from one system to another. For example when a hot filament emits light the energy of the filament goes off in the environment as light at a particular rate. To maintain equilibrium energy should be continuously produced at that rate in the filament. This is done by the chemical reaction in the battery. It is dynamic process; the energy is dissipated at the rate at which it is produced. In that sense useful energy has to be continuously produced and we say that it cannot be stored.

Answer 6

Does Light Have Matter

Answer 7

Yes. The light is not formed from the battery. It is formed by the hot dungeon in the bulb. It radiates the energy by throwing photons. Read more about photons for very scientific analysis

Answer 8

As someone with a background in both chemistry and physics, I would say that light does not contain matter. For the following reason: 1) Light is not made of solid object (but is a combination of waves and particles). Does that help?

Answer 9

Visible light is just one form of radiation created when you switch on your flashlight. It consists of photons, which act as particles AND as waves, but are massless. Kind of confusing, i know. When an atom or molecule absorbs a photon, its total energy is added to. Although they are individually massses, a group of photons clustered would have a measurable mass. When you turn on your torch, you are turning mass (battery, filiament) into energy (light radiation) made up of particles/waves (photons).

Answer 10

Yes. light contains photons which posess momentum. Anything with momentum muss have mass...

If one were to erect a large sail in space the light from a star could, in fact, push the sail along not unlike how the first ships crossed the oceans here on earth.

Cheers,

Answer 11

Wavicles man. The dual nature of light, as waves and as particles. Light particles, those are photons. Particles are matter. You create radiation. The electrical energy passes through the filament in the bulb and excites the particles and they start radiating.