If EVERYTHING in the world is either solid, liquid or gas...?

Question

...what is light?

Answer 1

i was always taught that there were 3 states of matter (solid, liquid and gas) but apparently there are 4! Plasma (see below)

Plasma (physics), an ionized gas where the electrons in the atom are separate from the nucleus, usually considered to be a distinct state of matter

Answer 2

Light is matter .... or at least has properties of...
It can be bent by strong gravitational pull and exerts a pressure.

Light pushes on objects in its way, just as the wind would do. This pressure is most easily explainable in particle theory: photons hit and transfer their momentum.

Wave–particle duality
The modern theory that explains the nature of light includes the notion of wave–particle duality, described by Albert Einstein in the early 1900s, based on his study of the photoelectric effect and Planck's results. Einstein asserted that the energy of a photon is proportional to its frequency. More generally, the theory states that everything has both a particle nature and a wave nature, and various experiments can be done to bring out one or the other. electrons also exhibit wave–particle duality. The wave nature of electrons was experimentally demonstrated by Davission and Germer in 1927. Einstein received the Nobel Prize in 1921 for his work with the wave–particle duality on photons (especially explaining the photoelectric effect thereby), and de Broglie followed in 1929 for his extension to other particles.

And yes - not everything is gas, solid or liquid - there are other states and other things - for instance energy - and the universe has more than 3 dimesions. See M-Theory - 11 Dimensions, super strings and the like.

Answer 3

So you have disproven your thesis in the few following words.

IF everything in the world is either solid, liquid or gas is clearly a what-if question and the fact that light, magnetism and other electromagnetic wave effects exist means that there is more to life than solid, liquid and gas.

Answer 4

Solid, liquid, gas, and plasma to be more exact. Thought is not considered "matter" by the science, which mostly likes to analyze phenomenon connected with matter. If we talk about a "non-matter" then this will not be Newtonean science anymore.

Answer 5

Light is Electromagnetic radiation that has a wavelength in the range from about 4,000 (violet) to about 7,700 (red) angstroms and may be perceived by the normal unaided human eye.

And who said EVERYTHING is either solid, liquid or gas?

Answer 6

1)No.There is at least one other, known as Plasma.Plasma physics deal with matter at temperatures in the tens of millions of degrees C.Plasma is so hot that normal matter breaks up and normal atom dont exist.On earth plasma is at the heart of the attempt to get clean nuclear energy by fusing lightweight elements into heavier ones.It is hard work and has cost alot of money over about 40 years.

2)Electromagnetic radiation which our eyes can detect.Microwaves, ultra violet and x-rays are among may other electromagnetic rays that we cant detect with our eyes.

Answer 7

Depending on your viewpoint, there are a lot more states of matter than even solid, liquid, gas and plasma - superfluids, for instance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_of_matter

Answer 8

Light, Magnetism, electricity, electro-magnetic waves etc..are NOT 'THINGS'.
'Things' or 'Objects' are someTHING you can see, feel and measure and are composed of matter
Light etc..are products of the use of matter as in combustion, electron flow through bulb filaments ..etc..etc.

It is being said that Plasma is another form of matter and is an ionised gas. But gas is one of the 3 forms of matter...end of story.

Answer 9

Light is not a thing (matter). Though in a few situations matter can come out of light and matter can produce light.

Answer 10

It isn't any of those. Unfortunately, the first statement is wrong: "Everything" doesn't fall into those categories. Those are categories of *matter*, while light is not matter.

If you want to know what light "is", then it gets very complicated. In a quantum picture, light is best viewed as little packets of energy, named photons. These photons have energy, letting them interact with matter (like they do in our retinas), but have no mass, and are not matter.

(Technically there are other phases of matter, but they are much less common.)