is light from a fire matter?

Question

matter is anything that takes up space and has mass...but does light come from fire matter?

Answer 1

Fire is not matter. It is primarily composed of two forms of energy...heat and light.

Answer 2

The light you see can in fact be seen as being made of tiny particles (photons)

Do these photons have mass? This is in fact an open question in physics. We have set upper bounds on the mass of a photon, but cannot for certain say that it is equal to zero. HOWEVER, there would be significant implications to modern theory should the mass in fact be non-zero.

Matter and energy are interchangeable, according to the theory of relativity. Since all photons have energy, they can be thought of as having mass from the mass/energy equivalence, but this is not a very useful concept. The bigger question here is do photons have rest mass - that is, if it were possible to stop them from moving, would they have mass (would it take energy to accelerate them again). The accepted answer to this is no.

Finally, what is matter? generally in physics it is accepted that to be matter something must (a) occupy space and (b) have mass. So the photons that strike your eyes, by that definition, are most likely not matter.

The fire itself is made of small particles undergoing an exothermic (heat-releasing) chemical reaction; as they get hot they radiate light in the same way a red-hot piece of iron does. These particles certainly have mass.

So the fire, yes, the light itself, probably not.

Answer 3

I am very sad to see so much confusion from the other postings about energy and matter...here is my best shot at a simple explanation.

Einstein showed that energy and mass are fundamentally related by Energy = mass * light speed*light speed (E=mc2).

What is also known as the particle wave duality reveals that all particles also behave as waves. This applies to all subatomic particles known as electromagnetic radiation (EMR) [predicted by Maxwell and discovered by Hertz]. In a vacuum, all EMR travels at the speed of light (c) and since it is a wave, it has a frequency (f) and a wavelength (w) given by

c = f * w

Finally, the energy of a particle is proportional to its frequency [thank Planck] and is given by

E = h * f, where h is called Planck's constant. Whew...if you made it this far...well congratulations!

So, to answer your question...the chemical reaction in the fire releases energy, in the form of heat and electromagnetic radiation. Some of the radiation you can see, the portion in visible light. Some you can feel as radiant heat, called infrared radiation.

AND, YES the light from a fire, as well as any other light is matter and has mass. The particles of light are called photons and have a measurable mass. But they also behave as waves, for example they can be bent by a lens. There is no difference between light from a fire and light from anywhere else.

Incidentally, it is not the visible, colored light that is 'hot'--what you feel as warmth are the invisible infrared waves/particles hitting you while you see a fire glow. However, the color of the visible radiation emitted from a heat source is related to its temperature, following the colors of the rainbow from red to yellow to green to blue to white. That is why a hotter gas flame is blue, while red flames are cooler. In fact, there is a device to measure temperature by the 'color' of the light called a pyrometer. But this is more than you wanted to know...

Still skeptical ? Here is simple proof that a photon has mass. If you evacuate a glass chamber to vacuum and place in it a rotating vane with plates, colored white on one side and black on the other, you will have built a photon pump. Just shine light on the chamber and the vane will rotate away from the black surface. This is caused by the mass of the photons being absorbed by the black surface, and reflected by the white. This is commonly known as a light windmill, but the 'wind' is actually the mass of light, or photons. See also link below.

Answer 4

The answer is debatable. Since the other answer was no I'll play devil's advocate and say yes. Light IS effected by gravity, which some would say means it has mass, and therefore is matter. It's really not that simple though....human's as a whole still have a lot of unanswered (or incorrectly answered) questions about the nature of light.

Answer 5

Although the light coming from the fire is energy in the form of light waves, the flames themselves are considered "plasma". Plasma is a state of matter, just like solid, liquid, and gas.

Answer 6

Light from a fire is radiant energy. Einstein's physics has taught us that matter can be converted to energy. Hence in a real sense this light is a transformation of matter into energy, which warms us, combining with our own matter to become matter again.

Can anyone please share with us a simple explanation of the equation

E = mc^2

Answer 7

Light or fire are not matter. But it does matter that from fire comes light and heat, especially on a cold moonless night.

Answer 8

Light is emitted by hot matter, but is not matter itself. So the answer to the question is No.

Answer 9

fire and light are not matter

they are energy

fire takes up no space (it looks like it but it doesnt)

Answer 10

light...has many definitions but mainly from fire or electricity...which can cause a fire but...fire is an element most over look...fire is misunderstood..just like water, earth , and air