why are photons spherical?

[cameron marical]

in all the diagrams ive seen with photons involved, it shows that photons are spherical shapes, is this just because of the fact that thats the easiest way to show it?, or are they really like that? if so, then why? photons have no mass, right? wrong? either way, i dont think that theyed come out spherical, theyed just be whatever wouldnt they? nothing pushing against them, like bubbles, is there? or maybe the speed that there going would stretch them out in a sense, so there more cyndrical. any one know?

[ajb]

Generally, one should not take diagrams too literally.

 

Indeed photons have no mass.

 

Depending on what the diagram is trying to represent, you can often think of photons as point-particles. If you include quantum mechanics you can be better off thinking of photons as "little clouds". That is they have some "extent".

[Sisyphus]

A travelling photon can actually be best represented as a wave. And even at their most particley, it's usually more helpful to think of it as a kind of pulse. Like a pulse moving down a string, it doesn't have one precise location, just an area of greater "thereness" that has no definite edges, but instead just tapers off indefinitely.

 

Actually, all particles are like that, but the wavy and indefinite nature of photons is the most obvious.

[Bob_for_short]

A travelling photon can actually be best represented as a wave. And even at their most particley, it's usually more helpful to think of it as a kind of pulse. Like a pulse moving down a string, it doesn't have one precise location, just an area of greater "thereness" that has no definite edges, but instead just tapers off indefinitely.

 

Actually, all particles are like that, but the wavy and indefinite nature of photons is the most obvious.

 

Indeed, a single travelling photon is a wave packet or a wave train. It contains many wave-lengths (10000-100000, it depends).

 

If you catch a photon between mirrors, it can become a standing wave, again, of finite length.

 

Bob.

[cameron marical]

What makes photons travel in wave-form rather than straight?

[GDG]

What makes photons travel in wave-form rather than straight?

 

They do go in straight lines. If you think of it as a particle, this is clear. If you think of it as a wave, you have to keep in mind that the "wave" aspect is a variation in electrical and magnetic fields, and not a geometric trace of the photon's trail. Although this is pretty much always drawn as a wavy line, the reality is a perfectly straight line, with variations in field intensity along its length.