Dino Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 There a thing I do not understand (actually a lott of things), a photon is a piece of energy traveling at the speed of light ? Does that mean that a photon keeps getting more energy because he is travelling at the speed of light ? [latex] E = mc^{2} [/latex] (Pleas correct me if I am saying anything wrong) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swansont Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 There a thing I do not understand (actually a lott of things), a photon is a piece of energy traveling at the speed of light ? Does that mean that a photon keeps getting more energy because he is travelling at the speed of light ? [latex] E = mc^{2} [/latex] (Pleas correct me if I am saying anything wrong) A photon is not a piece of energy. Energy is a property. The photon is the quantum of EM radiation; it also has the properties of both linear and angular momentum. The photon does not gain energy, or lose it, by traveling through space. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Country Boy Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 Why would anything "keep getting more energy" moving at constant speed? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dino Posted June 2, 2017 Author Share Posted June 2, 2017 Why would anything "keep getting more energy" moving at constant speed? I thought that by travelling at the speed of light(or really close to it) you gain mass, and mass is a type of energy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klaynos Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 I thought that by travelling at the speed of light(or really close to it) you gain mass, and mass is a type of energy? Your equation, and understanding are incomplete. E2=p2c2 + m2c4 Where p is momentum and m is the rest mass. Rest mass doesn't change with speed. Photos have 0 rest mass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strange Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 I thought that by travelling at the speed of light(or really close to it) you gain mass, and mass is a type of energy? The amount of energy ("relativistic mass") only depends on speed. An object does not gain more energy or "mass" if it stays at the same speed. (But this doesn't apply to photons, as others have said. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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