2006-10-15 12:24:20 · 8 answers · asked by Fun and Games 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
yes, but a photon is so small it gets changed into heat energy or reflected. small doces of light dont hurt, but very intense light can be very damaging when most of the photons are changed into heat energy.
light is both a particle and a wave. the mass is just so small that nothing can measure it yet.
2006-10-15 12:28:10 · answer #1 · answered by Folken 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I think Holden got it right. Photons never rest - therefore no mass at rest - therefore no mass. According to Einstein, masslessness (if that's a word) is the only way anything can travel at the speed of light. But the actual nature of photons as well as other particles and sub-particular entities is still very much a debate among theoretical physicists. In my view, the best explanations of these discussions in layman's terms can be found in Stephen Hawkings books.
2006-10-15 21:01:05 · answer #2 · answered by T 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Photons have no rest mass. If they did, because they travel at light speed, their mass would be infinite. However beacuse they are energy they do have an equivalent mass, by the equation E=mc^2.
Solar sails work on the high energy electrons and protons that do have mass and are ejected from the sun as plasma.
2006-10-15 20:16:27 · answer #3 · answered by Holden 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If photons have mass, it's something like 10^-60 kg. Classically (and quantum mechanically) they are considered to be massless particles, with energy and momentum. It doesn't hurt because it has no detectable mass to us.
Certain wavelengths of light can cause damage to cellular material, however - like x-rays and gamma rays (and microwave radiation in some forms).
2006-10-15 19:33:00 · answer #4 · answered by eri 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
yes light has mass in a vacuum a solar sail will propel a spacecraft. The force of the light impacting on you is less than the force of the air pressure at the bottom of our atmosphere so you never even notice it.
2006-10-15 19:57:03 · answer #5 · answered by oldhippypaul 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
light is emmited as photons, they have no mass but just pure energy, because of einsteins law of relativity anything that travels at the speed of light will have no mass as the faster you go, mass is turned into pure energy. so light has mass, but it has all been converted into energy
2006-10-15 19:28:46 · answer #6 · answered by mattyboi 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Light has ONLY rest mass, but under normal conditions light is never at rest therefore is massless.
2006-10-15 21:00:00 · answer #7 · answered by Chug-a-Lug 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
yes.
2006-10-15 19:31:43 · answer #8 · answered by G♥♥G♥♥ღ 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋