its there it takes up space, but yea
2006-10-27 14:22:05 · 7 answers · asked by so so fresh 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Oh wow, whoever is saying light is not a matter perhaps needs to read up on quantum physics....
Light is a wave that sometimes behaves like matter. It consists of photons, which are particles, hence matter. Photons however have no rest mass, which basically means you can't capture a photon and hold it in your hands.
Air is also matter since it consists of different gases.
2006-10-27 16:18:34 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Air is matter, because it is composed of molecules of oxygen, nitrogen, and other gases.
Light, on the other hand, is made up not of atoms but of waves of energy (electromagnetic radiation). Sometimes it behaves as particles though -- Einstein showed that matter and energy could be converted into one another according to the famous equationi, E=mc^2. Light is made up of photons, which are packets or particles of energy. This whole phenomenon of acting both like a particle and like a wave is one of the chief weird consequences of quantum physics.
2006-10-27 14:40:06 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Light is a radiation, and carries no mass, hence cannot be considered to be "matter." While it possesses momentum and kinetic energy, which allows it to interact with matter, that's a quantum mechanical effect and not a Newtonian effect. Air is composed of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, etc., so is, in fact, matter, possessing mass, boiling point, freezing point, etc.
2006-10-27 15:11:51 · answer #3 · answered by arbiter007 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Light doesn't "take up space" and is not composed of atoms and has no mass, so it's not considered to be matter. Air on the other hand does take up space (just blow up a balloon), is composed of atoms, and does therefore have mass, so it IS matter.
2006-10-27 14:26:22 · answer #4 · answered by willismg1959 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Light photons can be measured and air contains various matters(O2, N2...etc). Light is both wave and photon. Photon carry energy and mass and both measurable. Some space crafts are being designed to have solar sales that will be pushed by pressure created by photons from sun hiting its solar sales.
2006-10-27 14:37:32 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Strictly speaking (and it depends who you talk to), matter is anything that has mass. Light, whether considered as a photon, or a wavepacket, does not have mass, and so is not matter.
Air is made of molecules of oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and a few others. These all have mass, so they are matter.
2006-10-28 06:45:04 · answer #6 · answered by dm_cork 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Light is also matter. It can act as a particle and a wave. The particle which light is composed of is a photon.
2006-10-27 14:35:44 · answer #7 · answered by bert30818 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋