Light contain of what substance?

  • Context: High School 
  • Thread starter Thread starter jianshing
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Light
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the nature of light, specifically whether it can be described as a particle or a wave, and how this relates to the perception of color and the pressure exerted by light on surfaces. Participants explore theoretical aspects, including classical and quantum descriptions of light, as well as the physiological basis of color perception.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants propose that light can be described as particles, questioning if this leads to light exerting pressure on planets.
  • Others argue that light is fundamentally an electromagnetic wave, with color resulting from different wavelengths interacting with the human eye.
  • A participant emphasizes that color is a physiological response rather than a physical property of light itself.
  • There is mention of historical challenges in explaining light's behavior using classical physics, leading to the development of quantum theory and concepts like photons.
  • One participant suggests that for basic understanding, quantum electrodynamics may not be necessary, advocating for a simpler explanation based on electromagnetic waves and human perception.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on whether light should be considered as particles or waves, and there is no consensus on the implications of these descriptions for understanding color and pressure. The discussion remains unresolved with competing perspectives presented.

Contextual Notes

Some statements made by participants rely on specific definitions of light and color, and there are unresolved aspects regarding the relationship between classical and quantum descriptions of light.

jianshing
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Light have particle? If have particle do the light produced pressure when sunlight shine on the planets? if do not contain particle what make the light has colour? As we know most of the energy do not have colour.
 
Science news on Phys.org
jianshing said:
Light have particle?
Light can be described with the concept of particles. It does not have to.
Light shining on a surface exerts a pressure, yes.
jianshing said:
if do not contain particle what make the light has colour?
Light of different wavelength reacts differently with the light-sensitive parts of our eyes. Well call this difference "color".
jianshing said:
As we know most of the energy do not have colour.
That statement does not make sense.
 
Light can NOT be described by particles in the usual sense. What we call light is an electromagnetic wave in a certain range of frequencies (or equivalently wave lengths between about 400-800 nm). What we perceive as color is not a physical quality of electromagnetic waves but a physiological of our eyes and is due to the different excitation of the cells in the retina by electromagnetic waves of different frequencies.

With this classical picture of light as classical electromagnetic waves you come very far; most of the usual optical phenomena in everyday life can be described in this way. However, it's not the full story. E.g., when physicists in the late 19th century tried to figure out, which spectral decomposition light emitted from a hot metal might have, they had big trouble using the known laws of electromagnetism (Maxwell's equations) and thermodynamics/statistical physics. Finally, Planck found out in 1900, that the classical theory cannot account for the observed black-body spectrum, and he had to introduce the assumption that electromagnetic wave of frequency ##\omega## can only be absorbed and emitted by matter in portions of energy of the size ##\hbar \omega##, where ##\hbar## was a new natural constant.

This lead to the development of quantum theory. In its relativistic form, it is a socalled quantum field theory. The electromagnetic field and the charged particles interacting with the electromagnetic field and among themselves by the electromagnetic interaction mediated by this field has to be described in terms of this quantized version of the classical Maxwell equations. This theory is called quantum electrodynamics, and within this very abstract and mathematical theory you have some configurations of the electromagnetic field that can be interpreted as "light quanta", also called "photons", which have some particle-like properties, but particularly photons which have vanishing invariant mass are on the other hand very far from what we associate with massive classical particles. It's not even possible to define the position of a photon in the usual way. You can localize them only by measuring them by letting them interact with something sensitive to it, e.g., a photo plate or our eyes. Then you can say, there was an interaction of a photon in a certain region of space, but you can never precisely know, where a photon will appear, even if you know its state completely, but only probabilities, where they might be detected.
 
jianshing said:
Light have particle? If have particle do the light produced pressure when sunlight shine on the planets? if do not contain particle what make the light has colour? As we know most of the energy do not have colour.

At the level that you're asking, we don't need to worry about quantum electrodynamics and other esoteric subjects: Light is electromagnetic waves, and color comes from the ways that our eyes and brain respond to different frequencies of those waves. Try googling for "What is light" and "What is color" and you'll find a number of good explanations.
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 22 ·
Replies
22
Views
3K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
3K
  • · Replies 40 ·
2
Replies
40
Views
5K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
3K
  • · Replies 24 ·
Replies
24
Views
3K
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
2K
  • · Replies 17 ·
Replies
17
Views
4K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 34 ·
2
Replies
34
Views
4K
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
10K