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big_bounce
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Hello all .
Can we consider space as a medium that photons and other waves travel on that ?
Can we consider space as a medium that photons and other waves travel on that ?
xAxis said:No. EM waves don't need medium.
phinds said:EM waves can travel through many mediums. Light travels through glass quite well, for example.
What is it you are trying to get at with your question? It seems that you just want someone to verify a personal theory that you have that says that space is some kind of quasi-solid "medium". That's not likely to happen.
big_bounce said:We know space is not really empty and has lowest energy state .
If a EM waves travel through space is that mean they travel through a medium ?
xAxis said:Sound waves also travel through space. But we don't say space is the medium.
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big_bounce said:Hello all .
Can we consider space as a medium that photons and other waves travel on that ?
If that's true, then your question can have any answer anyone wants!big_bounce said:See , a 'medium' can be anything
big_bounce said:Hello all .
Can we consider space as a medium that photons and other waves travel on that ?
Neandethal00 said:Space is a medium.
Nothing can exist without a medium.
We just can't figure out yet what space is made of.
big_bounce said:See , a 'medium' can be anything
The only thing that cannot be a medium is nothing but vacuum ( or space ) is not nothing there are virtual particle and minimum energy state in it .
SO with this describe can we consider vacuum ( or space ) a medium ?
phinds said:Really? So all those sci fic movies that have spaceships making whooshing sounds and so as they maneuver forth have it right?
jetwaterluffy said:Actually, for really loud sounds such as the death star exploding aalderen I can't see why they shouldn't make a noise in space. Space isn't a perfect vacuum, after all, and when you have 10^38J or 10^32J whatever, even a small fraction of that is going to make a gigantic noise that even micropascals pressure might let through.
big_bounce said:See , a 'medium' can be anything
The only thing that cannot be a medium is nothing but vacuum ( or space ) is not nothing there are virtual particle and minimum energy state in it .
SO with this describe can we consider vacuum ( or space ) a medium ?
Chronos said:I tend to think of virtual particles as being like zeros used as placeholders in numbers. They represent a disturbance in a field, but, have no independent, objective reality.
You may like the following (some people hate it):big_bounce said:We know space is not really empty and has lowest energy state .
If a EM waves travel through space is that mean they travel through a medium ?
harrylin said:You may like the following (some people hate it):
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ether_and_the_Theory_of_Relativity
JustinRyan said:One box has real volume and can have real contents...the other doesn't have any volume so cannot contain anything real.
No-one has ever seen a quark either. Are they real?
Outdated means in physics disproved; physics is not fashion. I am not aware that the GR field concept was disproved. :grumpy:ZapperZ said:And some people hate it with good reason (it is outdated!), and you should know well enough to not use it because it will only add unnecessary confusion to this!
What's next? Reference to the Caloric each time we have a discussion on Thermodynamics?
Zz.
ZapperZ said:And some people hate it with good reason (it is outdated!), and you should know well enough to not use it because it will only add unnecessary confusion to this!
What's next? Reference to the Caloric each time we have a discussion on Thermodynamics?
Zz.
This is a common question and the answer is not as straightforward as one might think. In classical physics, space is considered a medium for the propagation of electromagnetic waves, including photons. However, in modern physics, the concept of space-time as a medium has been replaced by the theory of relativity, which describes space and time as a unified entity. Therefore, it is more accurate to say that space is the medium in which waves propagate, rather than being a medium itself.
Photons and other waves travel through space at the speed of light, which is approximately 299,792,458 meters per second. This speed is constant and is not affected by the presence of any medium, including space itself. This is due to the fact that photons and other waves do not require a medium to travel, as they are self-propagating disturbances in the electromagnetic field.
While space itself does not affect the speed of photons and other waves, it can be influenced by the presence of massive objects. This is known as gravitational lensing, where the curvature of space caused by massive objects can bend the path of photons and other waves. This phenomenon has been observed in the bending of light around galaxies and clusters of galaxies.
Space is not completely empty, but it is also not filled with particles in the traditional sense. According to quantum field theory, space is filled with virtual particles that constantly pop in and out of existence. These particles are not physical in the traditional sense, but they can have measurable effects on the behavior of particles and waves that travel through space.
The concept of space and the concept of a vacuum are closely related, but they are not the same thing. Space refers to the three-dimensional extent in which objects exist and move, while a vacuum refers to a space that is completely devoid of matter. However, even in a vacuum, space still exists and can be affected by the presence of energy and particles, such as photons and other waves.