2006-08-22 02:41:59 · 31 answers · asked by ideaseeker 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Good question.
The light itself is carried in photons or small bundles of waves that contain energy, are affected by gravity, and have no mass when they are not moving.
Because of the wave like characteristics of light, (it passes through itself, it exhibits constructive and destructive interference, it bends around corners, etc.) it was long believed that light and radio waves travelled through some universal medium called the ether. After years and years of experiments to prove the existance of the ether failed, Eistein came up with some theories on light.
So, the answer to your question depends upon what level you want your answer to take. The simple answer is to say that small little pellets moving really fast come shooting out from the sun and strike the earth. A deeper answer might be to say that we're really not absolutely sure of the mechanism wereby light travels. We just observe it and continue to work with empirical laws regarding light's behavior and keep searching for a solid theory that explains it better.
2006-08-22 02:58:12 · answer #1 · answered by tbolling2 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Light is an electromagnetic radiation which can travel through space at a speed of 299, 500 Km per second from the source. Hence, the light that comes from the Sun to the Earth is about 8 minutes and the Sun we see is 8 minutes delayed Sun.
2006-08-22 09:53:49 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The sun's rays travel outward from the sun in every direction. Only some of them hit the earth. It takes about 8 minutes to get here.
2006-08-22 09:48:11 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do you how ong does it take?
Light speed V = 300 000 km/s
Mean fistance from sun to earth D = 150 000 000 km
Results D/V= 500 s = 8 min 20 s
2006-08-22 09:49:11 · answer #4 · answered by pierre c 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
By wiggling the ether. ;-)
Actually light doesn't require any "medium" to travel through... a vacuum is just fine. It travels the same way light goes from a light-bulb to where you are sitting with a good book -- a very fast electromagnetic wave propagating through space.
Aloha
2006-08-22 09:48:48 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Light is a form of energy, and travels in waves through space. Light is also a particle (called a photon), and its particle characteristics are expressed when it hits something, and stops travelling.
2006-08-22 09:47:41 · answer #6 · answered by Brian L 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Waves of photon particles bombard the earth with the sun's energy
2006-08-22 09:47:14 · answer #7 · answered by Huey from Ohio 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If the sun suddenly burned out, you wouldn't know it for 8 and 1/3 minutes.
2006-08-22 09:50:06 · answer #8 · answered by IT Pro 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A photon (light unit) has characteristics of both a particle and a wave.
Imagine both a "wind" of particles and a wave in the sea coming to us from the sun.
2006-08-22 09:48:51 · answer #9 · answered by Salami and Orange Juice 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In a 1967 Volkswagon Beetle
2006-08-22 09:48:43 · answer #10 · answered by mrkymrk64 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋