If black holes swallow only mass objects, then why do they bend light which has zero mass?

Question

Light’s particles, photons have zero mass and black holes pull in objects with a certain mass. Why doesn’t this work on light particles?

Deep , thanks for the answer, however i have never heard or read that photons have mass,

Answer 1

Well, in relativity the distinction between mass and energy become blurred. The consensus among physicists today is that the photon is massless in the classical sense, but it does have relativistic mass.

Answer 2

I like Eugene and divas' answers.

Newton says stuff with mass will keep moving in a straight line if no other force acts on it.

Einstein says yes, that's fine, but straight lines are not straight in curved space. Mass (gravity) curves space, and very heavy things like black holes curve it right into a point. So light follows "straight" lines, which lead into the black hole.

Also, light only has zero mass when it's at rest. Since light is never at rest, but is always charging about, it never has zero mass. The mass it has when it's in motion is "relativistic mass". One of the ways of measuring the intensity of a laser beam is to stick a plate in the way of the beam and measure the force you get from all those heavy photons whacking into it.

Sorry, it was boring. But you're still the doppest...

Answer 3

Einstein says gravity is a curvature of space time and not a force between masses, so even though photons have no mass they are influenced by it. And it is not only black holes; any gravity can bend light. Slight bending of light from distant stars by the Sun's gravity has been measured.

Answer 4

A black hole has such strong gravity that it can bend light into it -- FALSE This means that light has mass -- FALSE a black hole's gravitation is so intense it "bends" or "warps" SPACE. The light itself is not in some way "bent" and traveling in a "other than straight" line. From a distance an observer might see the light seem to "bend" but if an actual "grid" of lines of the space time continuum were visible in the background, it would be clear that it isn't the LIGHT that got bent. Draw a straight line on a sheet of paper and crumple up the paper. The line is still straight.... really, it is... it absolutely is... its just the paper that is crumpled. If that line you drew were a hollow tube, you could see throught it... or better yet a strand of fiber optic cable.... the light would still travel through it in a "straight line" through what you as a distant observer see as a crumple.

Answer 5

good que ..
actually u r wrong of d fact dat black holes swallow only mass ....
it has immense gravity pull so immense dat not even light can escape ..
u are also false wen u say dat light has no mass ...
it has photons as particles which have very low mass ...
so dey r not attracted by other celestial objects but only d black hole's gravity pull is sufficient to attract light ....

Answer 6

Black holes are so massive that they warp space. The path of the photon can be altered if it travels close enough to be effected by the black hole's gravity well.

Answer 7

Because black holes bend space as Einstein predicted that any big mass would and this has been proved by observation on stars.

Answer 8

Because they are so incredibly powerful that they can suck in practically *anything*. You're right, light does not have mass, but it is still 'something' in the universe, and it cannot escape a black hole.

Answer 9

a black hole distorts the space around it. Space gets bent around the black hole. Light travels in straight lines through space and since the space is warped around the block hole, the light is just following the natural curvature.

Answer 10

light particles have zero rest mass but when they r in motion they have certain mass hence they r captured by black hole.