2007-03-26 14:34:20 · 5 answers · asked by Ryoma Echizen 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
The wavelength gets longer
2007-03-26 14:37:52 · answer #1 · answered by Gene 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hold on a second. If you consider light radiating from a point source, the intensity of the radiation decreases with distance because the wavfront gets bigger and so the energy is more spread out.
The intensity of the light has decreased. Quantum mechanically this means there are fewer photons passing through each unit area.
Photons do NOT spontaneously lose energy by increasing their wavelengths.
2007-03-27 01:15:12 · answer #2 · answered by Cliff 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A photon that loses energy doesn't go slower -- it always travels at the speed of light -- but it "redshifts", or gets longer in wavelength. A photon climbing up from the event horizon is infinitely redshifted, and is never seen by the outside observer.
2007-03-26 21:40:37 · answer #3 · answered by mitsugirl 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
As a beam of light loses energy, its wavelength gets longer, and if it gains energy, its wavelength gets shorter.
2007-03-26 21:42:06 · answer #4 · answered by HoneyBunny 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It acquires a lower frequency. For example, if the light started out looking bluish, it might start to look red if the light source began to emit light with lower energy.
2007-03-26 21:37:47 · answer #5 · answered by robert 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋