Light & Dark: What Happens When Light Comes In?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the conceptual understanding of darkness in relation to light, specifically addressing the question of what happens to darkness when light is introduced into a dark environment. Participants explore the nature of darkness, its relationship to light, and the implications of these concepts.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions the nature of darkness and where it goes when light is introduced, seeking a proper explanation.
  • Another participant compares the question to asking where cold goes when heat is applied, suggesting it may not be a meaningful inquiry.
  • Some participants propose that darkness is merely a notation for the absence of light, implying that it does not exist as a physical entity.
  • One participant reiterates that darkness is the absence of light and describes how photons from a light source fill the space, effectively replacing darkness.
  • A participant introduces an analogy about "nobody" to further illustrate the perceived meaninglessness of the question regarding darkness.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

There is no consensus on the meaningfulness of the question regarding darkness. Some participants agree that darkness is simply the absence of light, while others challenge the premise of the inquiry itself, suggesting it may be nonsensical.

Contextual Notes

The discussion reflects varying levels of understanding of physics concepts among participants, with some expressing uncertainty about the nature of darkness and light.

sutupidmath
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HI all, i just wanted to know what happens, or maybe it is better to say how does one explain where does the darkness go when the light comes in? in other words, say we are in a dark room, and suddenly one turns on the light, what happens to the darkness? What is the porper explanation for this??
 
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That doesn't make sense; it's like asking where the cold goes when a source of heat is introduced.
 
does this mean, that there is no dark at all, but it is just a, how to say, notation for the absence of light??
 
Yes, darkness is just the absence of light. So when you turn a light on, the photons released by the lamp start bouncing around in the room, 'filling' it with light.
 
russ_watters said:
Yes, darkness is just the absence of light. So when you turn a light on, the photons released by the lamp start bouncing around in the room, 'filling' it with light.

so asking questions about the nature of darkness is nonsense, right? It is a little hard for me to grasp this, since i do not actually have a good background in physics, i am quite bad at it indeed!
 
It might be useful to consider this analogous question: There was nobody in my office this morning, until I entered. Where did the "nobody" go? What is the nature of nobody?
 

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