EM Waves: Understanding their Composition and Mass [SOLVED]

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the composition and properties of electromagnetic (EM) waves, including their relationship to photons, mass, and the underlying physics. Participants explore theoretical concepts, experimental implications, and the nature of light as both a wave and a particle.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants propose that EM waves consist of electric and magnetic fields that propagate through space, with properties of both waves and particles, but not simultaneously.
  • One participant asserts that light has no rest mass, which is necessary for it to reach the speed of light, while another suggests that the concept of photon mass could be consistent with General Relativity.
  • There is a discussion about the relationship between EM waves and electrons, with some arguing that EM waves do not require electrons to propagate, while others express confusion about how changing fields occur without electrons.
  • One participant mentions that light is attracted to black holes, suggesting this implies light has mass, while another counters that light follows the curvature of spacetime rather than being attracted by mass in a traditional sense.
  • Participants discuss the implications of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle on the observation of light, suggesting that the nature of light observed depends on the experimental setup.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on whether light has mass and the role of electrons in EM wave propagation. There is no consensus on these points, and the discussion remains unresolved.

Contextual Notes

Some claims about the nature of mass in relation to photons and the relationship between electric and magnetic fields may depend on specific interpretations of quantum mechanics and relativity, which are not fully explored in the discussion.

  • #31
Originally posted by bdkeenan00
Not all of the photons have to absorbed and remitted. Some could pass in between the spaces between atoms and get to your eyes in a strait line, while some others are absorbed and remitted in a random direction(which could explain why the light seems to expand outward in all directions). And when you think about how many photons there are coming from source it's easy to see how so many can get away without being absorbed.

Thanks, but if that is true, it does away with the reason of why this line of thought started being discussed here anyway.
The original question was:

Why do photons travel slower when traveling through an optically dense medium?

Ivan Seeking's suggestion was that they constantly get absorbed, and new ones are released, making the light beam travel slower.

I was simply arguing this.
 

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