Is ether ( the medium at which electromagnetic waves pass travels) proven to exist?

Question

Is the Michelson-Morley experiment made to prove the existence of ether?

Answer 1

1. ether is proven to NOT exist, the corresponding experiment is called "Michelson-Moreley".

2. The experiment itself was made to calculate the movement of the earth relative to the ether, and showed, that there is no ether. So people didn't want to prove its existence, they thought ether exist. They just wanted to calculate the speed of ether around the earth.

3. Another interpretation of the experiment is that it shows: light always travels with the same speed, the speed is independent from the frame of reference. It is not sure wether Albert Einstein knew this experiment or not, but it's taken as a foundation pillar of the theory of relativity.

Answer 2

The ether is a hypothetical medium and its existence is neither proved nor disproved.

Michelson Morley experiment was conducted to determine the change in velocity of light which must be present if ether is present.

The negative result of Michelson Morley, i.e. the velocity of light remained the same in both direction and hence the experiment could not detect the presence of ether.

Fitzgerald and Lorenz independently offered a more thorough suggestion that a material body moving through ether is contracted in the direction of motion of ether.

Einstein suggested that no medium is necessary for the propagation of light.

Even to day one can assume that ether is present and a material body moving through ether is contracted in the direction of motion of ether.

All laws can be well explained by that assumption. Or one can follow Einstein's suggestion that no material medium is necessary.

Therefore, the fact is that so far no one has proved nor disproved the existence of the hypothetical medium.

We can compare Ether to the concept of God. For some the God is present and for some God is not present.

No one has proved the existence of the god nor disproved the existence of god. Similar is the concept of ether.


Science do not bother the existence or non existence of God and does not bother to prove the existence of God or non existence of God. Same with ether. Both are still hypothetical.

Answer 3

Electromagnetic waves do not shuttle in a medium like sound and water waves. they're the interaction of electric powered and magnetic fields as defined with the aid of Maxwell's equations. those equations tutor that a time-various magnetic container creates an electric powered container, and conversely, a time-various electric powered container creates a magnetic container. The equations may well be solved to derive the case wherein the electrical powered fields and magnetic fields variety in this way of way that each and each creates the different in a self-conserving interaction. while it somewhat is complete, the end result's an equation of a vacationing wave that strikes on the cost of a million/sqrt(e0*m0) in loose area. e0 and m0 are electric powered properties of area called permittivity and permeability. evidently the cost of sunshine in a vacuum is exactly that fee. This consequence replaced into the convincing evidence that easy replaced into electromagnetic waves.

Answer 4

The luminiferous aether was an early conjecture for a medium for electromagnetic fields. People believed it for a long time, even though there was no evidence for it. The idea hasn't completely gone away, see the reference for the fascinating history of the idea. It sounds strangely like the idea that all life forms evolved from a single genetic ancestor.

Answer 5

Luminiferous aether was a medium conjectured because it was thought that electromagnetic waves would not propagate in a vacuum. According to the original theory, the earth would have been in motion relative to a "fixed" aether, and the speed of light would then have to be different as a function of its direction.
Experiments proved that the motion of eath did not influence the speed of light, both disproving the notion of aether as it was conjectured, and allowing Einstein to derive the theory of relativity.

Answer 6

No, ether was speculated to exist but never proven to exist. EM radiation doesn't need a medium.

Answer 7

A light volatile flammable liquid C4H10O used chiefly as a solvent and especially formerly as an anesthetic or a medium that in the wave theory of light permeates all space and transmits transverse waves.
So it is known as an anaesthetic but whether it exist as a medium for electromagnetic waves is still debatable.