does light occupy space ?

Question

give reasons for your answers

Answer 1

matter is defined as 'which occupy space and has mass',
As you may know light has a dual character.As its wave character we say that light is a traveling wave whose 'magnitude' changes as the wave moves in space.As the electric and magnetic waves are electromagnetic waves they should theoretically occupy NO space.as all EM waves are not considered under matter conventionally .

but in its particle nature light is said to constitute of particles (photons) which 'has mass' and can 'impart momentum' to materials.but this mass not comes through the conventional mass of particles and it is some special property of the photons.moreover we never heard of VOLUME of photons anywhere.

so by these two viewpoints it seems that light should not have any volume and should not occupy any space..
BUT when we talk of mass energy equivalence we say that mass is itself energy and light waves is a form of energy. so when a mass is destroyed to convert to energy it the energy should occupy a volume equal to energy of mass as when energy is converted to mass a volume of mass is generated.
so by this viewpoint it seems that light should have volume.
but the exact answer to your ques is difficult.as you see our different point of view leads us to different conclusions.
and your ans lies probably in 'quantum physics and the 'string theory'(the m theory) but loads of work is to be done in these fields and so that we can find exact answers to questions like "why only light has ultimate speed in this world" and "why we can never reach this speed" and your one.Work is going on and we can expect some reasonable answers in some years to come.but till then lets pray for the best!!!!!!!!!!!

one more thing ..............
from our mass energy equivalence viewpoint even if light is to occupy space it should be small enough (like total energy received on earth by sun only corresponds to about 5gm mass) to be measurable by any physical instrument .or method we have so we cannot tell this in a direct way.

Answer 2

Occupy Space

Answer 3

Consider a closed space however big you can imagine.

Let it contain some matter which do not emit and matter that do emit light.

The space other than the space occupied by matter will be occupied by light (E.M energy)

Inside the matter also, if light can penetrate e.g. glass water, the space will be occupied by light.

Sun and star are the natural sources of light. Light emitted by them will occupy a space of sphere of radius infinity.

Answer 4

Light is made of particles called photons which are usually referred to as massless. But they collide with the particles in their surroundings and thus we get different speeds of light in different media. If light hadn't occupied space then the photons would not have collided. You can thus say light occupies space.

Answer 5

yes and no ....
when it travels it is in the form of a wave it does not but considering it being a photon it must be occupying some space at least for a fraction of second before interacting with electrons

Answer 6

Yes, since it can knock an electron out of its orbit.
But aside from that anything which exits must occupy an area of space or not exist in this universe.

Answer 7

Electrons do occupy space.....

Check the website for reasons

Answer 8

on an apparent level (eg according to our eyesight) light appears to occupy space but in reality, all matter including sub atomic particles is rising and passing away with such great rapidity that nothing occupies space

Answer 9

Light has dual properties
1)Matter i.e. Photons
2)Waves

But in both its state it does not occupy space

Answer 10

Light is pure energy, and energy does not have any physical dimensions.

So, no, light does not occupy space.