Where does the light go when you turn it off?

Question

This is a serious question,, what acutually happens to the photons?

Answer 1

the light source simply stops producing them. in an incandescent (sp?) bulb, the filament cools down to the point that it stops radiating light. the photons already produced by the bulb (those created the instant before you turn the switch off) are very rapidly absorbed by the colored objects in the room. as they are rapidly absorbed (and boy do i mean rapidly) the room goes dark.

Answer 2

I agree with you it's a really serious question. O.k. let's get down to business.

What happens to the protons? They stop flowing! simple.

We have two directions of current flow in electricity principles;
1. conventional current-assumes that current flows out of the positive terminal, through the circuit and into the negative terminal of the source.

2. electron flow- is what actually happens and electrons flow out of the negative terminal, through the circuit and into the positive terminal of the source.

The bulb is a transducer(A transducer is a device, usually electrical, electronic, or electro-mechanical, that converts one type of energy to another for various purposes including measurement or information transfer). It converts electrical energy(electron flow) into light energy.

So, if you open the switch you are denying the electrons to flow. http://www.mi.mun.ca/users/cchaulk/eltk1100/ivse/ivse.htm#), hence denying the bulb to transduce.

I hope you question is seriuosly answered.

Answer 3

They simply are not generated. It takes energy to make light.