can light move thing?

Question

is it possible if you like hook a carridge kinda a thing to a light beam and move with it?
like we use horses and cars for transportation can we use light??

and can light move sound or water?

Answer 1

Yes you can!
Photo effect is the proof.
It shows that a kinetic energy of a photon of light traveling at a certain frequency will knock out an electron from a material. (ref 1). So by converting light to electricity and electricity to mechanical motion... You got the idea.

Radiometer is an inexpensive instrument that demonstrates that a light beam can move things. (ref 2)

Can light exert any appreciable force on a body of water, I think NOT! If light could move the midi um through which the sound propagates then the answer would have been 'yes', but it can't.

Answer 2

No it can't, because it has no mass...
through my extensive nonexistant knowledge, if light does have mass, then bombarding another mass might be able to move it. however, you have to overcome a few things.

1. light could hit off other masses elastically so light bouncing off a wall and hitting the object again but from the other side might counter the force applied on the front side. So, the net force on the object would be near zero and for objects visible to our eyes, we would not be able to see any movement.

2. mass is made of electron shells. since light is energy also, you'll probably excite the electrons, have the electrons fall back to first energy level and thus releasing lightwaves to our eyes than move the atom itself.

3. The force of moving objects would also have to overcomes static friction (if the object is on the ground) or air resistance (if floating) to move. That makes it improbable to move objects on earth using light because nothing is frictionless. In space however, without much resistance to anything, i believe scientists are researching solar sails to move satellites across space. It's like a large net that 'catches' light's momentum. It's different from solar panels.

4. this following reason i am not sure but .. the intensity of the light would mean more photons striking the object and help it move. However, you would also be heating up the object so much that it melts/evaporates. Hence, moving water would be improbable.

sound? sound is the ripple of an impulse through air. I dont see how light could transport sound.

again, i dont know if my reasoning is correct so take my answer with caution.



The answer is YES.
It can move objects at atmospheric levels- we've used pusled laser beams to launch foil models.
NASA is still looking into laser light as a source for launching payloads into orbit.
In space, solar sails 'catch' the light waves and are then 'pushed' by them.
It is completely plausible and we've already demonstrated this practically.
In fact, those very clever Japanese are testing solar sails in space right now:



Light can be used for transmitting data- there was a recent breakthrough in a scientist inventing a laser-based computer- so sound transmitted by light energy is entirely plausible too (it would have toi be encoded into light signals first)


In water- light transmission is difficult as water absorbs its energy.
Can it move water?
Absolutely- but depends what you mean specifically. IF you mean push it along? I'm not sure.
If you mean in terms of the Sun- yes, the sun heats the ocean and creates convection currents

Answer 3

through my extensive nonexistant knowledge, if light does have mass, then bombarding another mass might be able to move it. however, you have to overcome a few things.

1. light could hit off other masses elastically so light bouncing off a wall and hitting the object again but from the other side might counter the force applied on the front side. So, the net force on the object would be near zero and for objects visible to our eyes, we would not be able to see any movement.

2. mass is made of electron shells. since light is energy also, you'll probably excite the electrons, have the electrons fall back to first energy level and thus releasing lightwaves to our eyes than move the atom itself.

3. The force of moving objects would also have to overcomes static friction (if the object is on the ground) or air resistance (if floating) to move. That makes it improbable to move objects on earth using light because nothing is frictionless. In space however, without much resistance to anything, i believe scientists are researching solar sails to move satellites across space. It's like a large net that 'catches' light's momentum. It's different from solar panels.

4. this following reason i am not sure but .. the intensity of the light would mean more photons striking the object and help it move. However, you would also be heating up the object so much that it melts/evaporates. Hence, moving water would be improbable.

sound? sound is the ripple of an impulse through air. I dont see how light could transport sound.

again, i dont know if my reasoning is correct so take my answer with caution.

Answer 4

The answer is YES.
It can move objects at atmospheric levels- we've used pusled laser beams to launch foil models.
NASA is still looking into laser light as a source for launching payloads into orbit.
In space, solar sails 'catch' the light waves and are then 'pushed' by them.
It is completely plausible and we've already demonstrated this practically.
In fact, those very clever Japanese are testing solar sails in space right now:
http://www.solarsails.info/news/index.html


Light can be used for transmitting data- there was a recent breakthrough in a scientist inventing a laser-based computer- so sound transmitted by light energy is entirely plausible too (it would have toi be encoded into light signals first)
http://labs.pcw.co.uk/2006/09/intel_to_demo_h.html

In water- light transmission is difficult as water absorbs its energy.
Can it move water?
Absolutely- but depends what you mean specifically. IF you mean push it along? I'm not sure.
If you mean in terms of the Sun- yes, the sun heats the ocean and creates convection currents.

Answer 5

If I remember anything about physics, since e=mc squared, then the speed of light equals the square root of energy/mass...so light has mass and can theoretically "move" things...I think that's the principle behind solar sails...

Or maybe that was a movie plot *sigh*

Go read this university article, it's probably more scientific :)

Answer 6

in quantum theory, light is believed to be made of particles too and hence it is theoritically possible to do all the above.

However, even in quantum theory, the amount of force that can move such heavy things wud be impossible unless u have a really really large amount of light. Even all the light in the earth wont suffice.

All they have succeeded in doing is pushing the almost massless electrons with the help of light known as photoelectric effect

Answer 7

No it cant, as it has no mass. If it could then light speed travel may be possible.

Answer 8

Yes, it can. You have to use light energy converter (i.e. solar cell). It can convert light energy into mechanical energy.