EWyatt Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Visible light, I presume, is a photon product. And since photons have no mass or charge, how are they affected by gravity? Black holes don't allow photons to escape, and light is "curved" when passing a large body toward Earth from a distant star, etc. So how can a mass-less unit be affected by gravitational pull? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EquisDeXD Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 (edited) Visible light, I presume, is a photon product. And since photons have no mass or charge, how are they affected by gravity? Black holes don't allow photons to escape, and light is "curved" when passing a large body toward Earth from a distant star, etc. So how can a mass-less unit be affected by gravitational pull? Light still has relative mass, and energy distorts the fabric of space as well. A photon has energy, energy is effected by curvature, and energy is a part of determining the photon's frequency and magnitude. Edited October 21, 2012 by EquisDeXD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACG52 Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Visible light, I presume, is a photon product. And since photons have no mass or charge, how are they affected by gravity? Black holes don't allow photons to escape, and light is "curved" when passing a large body toward Earth from a distant star, etc. So how can a mass-less unit be affected by gravitational pull? Light will always follow the shortest route between points. This is known as the geodesic. Gravity curves the geodesic. Photons always follow the curve of space. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomma Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 What happens to a photon after we see something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swansont Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 What happens to a photon after we see something? It's gone. The photon gets absorbed by a molecule in your eye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantheory Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 (edited) Visible light, I presume, is a photon product. And since photons have no mass or charge, how are they affected by gravity? Black holes don't allow photons to escape, and light is "curved" when passing a large body toward Earth from a distant star, etc. So how can a mass-less unit be affected by gravitational pull? The classical explanation of General Relativity is that photons follow the curved lines inward surrounding matter. You also could say that photons, via their momentum/ energy, have a small mass equivalence and thereby react like matter concerning gravity. // Edited November 1, 2012 by pantheory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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