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i was watching some video on light and it says that gamma + xrays can smash atomic nuclei + ultraviolet light can smash molecules apart.
i was watching some video on light and it says that gamma + xrays can smash atomic nuclei + ultraviolet light can smash molecules apart.
1) Photons do have momentum and relativistic mass. They can collide and they do.In a word, no. UV, gamma and x-rays are IONIZING RADIATION this means they have enough energy to remove ELECTRONS and break bonds (which I guess you could say is "smashing" a molecule into constituent atoms). They do not "smash" (I keep using quotes because this is not really a very good way of visualizing what's going on since light has no mass with which to "collide" with anything) apart atomic nuclei, that requires a great deal more energy (like say a neutron at near the speed of light, this is what happens in a nuclear reactor/bomb)