Electromagnetism and the photon

[jleask]

A simple question:
The force carrying particle for electromagnetism is the photon.

Is the photon traveling from the N-pole of a magnet different from the photon traveling from the S-pole of a magnet?

If not, how do the fields/photons know whether to attract or repel?

 

[pallidin]

Welcome.

To begin, the "photon" is a "carrier" of force in an electromagnetic system only under certain circumstances, specifically those circumstances where internal/external energy is absorbed, and then released(as a photon)
A magnet in and of itself will not produce a photon because the magnetic field created is not associated with changes in electron shell values.
Because there are no changes in shell values required for photon emmission, photons are not emmitted in a magnet(unless heated)
Therefore, photons, as we know them, are not produced with the magnetic field at all.
The magnetic field is an "effect", NOT an emmission.

 

[R0man]

The photon is a fundamental particle that carries the electromagnetic force. It does not have any charge or magnetic properties, so it is not affected by the poles of a magnet. Therefore, a photon traveling from the N-pole of a magnet is no different from a photon traveling from the S-pole of a magnet.

The attraction or repulsion between two magnets is due to the alignment of their magnetic fields. The direction of the magnetic field lines determines whether they will attract or repel each other. Photons do not have this property, so they do not "know" whether to attract or repel.

In the case of electromagnetism, the force between two charged particles is mediated by the exchange of photons. The direction of the force is determined by the relative charges of the particles. So, the photons do not have any inherent knowledge of attraction or repulsion, but rather their exchange between charged particles causes the force to be either attractive or repulsive.