2006-12-09 10:41:21 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Um! Look it up, Photons have no inherient mass. Do people not even comprehend the basics of the electromagnetic spectrum before attempting to answer??? What is the mass of Radio Waves if Photons have mass?
2006-12-09 10:49:58 · update #1
Is is both a wave and a particle because it exhibits the properties of both. For example, we can create "interference patters" which is a property of waves. It also has "momentum" (the basis for sci-fi "light sail" spacecraft), and occurs in "quanta" (discrete "packets" of energy) which are properties of particles.
2006-12-09 10:58:22 · answer #1 · answered by kart_125cc 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A photon is both a particle *and* a wave and is, in fact, neither. It has no mass because it is not a particle any more than it is a wave..
Go back and re-read the tale of the 7 wise men and the elephant.
Doug
2006-12-09 18:45:29 · answer #2 · answered by doug_donaghue 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
wave-partical duality
quick rundown of why. Basically light has propertys of both a stream of particles and being a wave.
Reason it is a particle:
1. Gravity has an effect on light
Reason it is a wave:
1. photon has no mass
anyway the list goes on but that is why it is neither and both because it has propertys of both.
2006-12-09 18:47:07 · answer #3 · answered by travis R 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A photon behaves as both a wave and as a particle. It doesn't have zero mass, it has zero REST mass. There is a difference.
Photons have a non-zero relativistic mass.
I don't need to look ip up. Apparently you do.
2006-12-09 18:47:25 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can have zero rest mass and still exist, as long as you never rest in any reference frame. All massless particles always travel at light speed.
As to what it is, duality is a property of everything, not just photons.
2006-12-09 19:45:33 · answer #5 · answered by SAN 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋