Radiation that interacts with hydrogen

[Northprairieman]

Main Question or Discussion Point

Hi there,

Is hydrogen gas transparent to most radiation or is there a wavelength that interacts with hydrogen?

I'm asking because I want to know if it's possible to "push" hydrogen in a vacuum with some kind of photons.

 

[mathman]

Radiation interacts with hydrogen by exciting the electrons. The particular wavelengths show up as the spectrum for hydrogen. The effect is essentially heating, not pushing.

 

[Northprairieman]

Thanks for the response. Could you push hydrogen by shooting electrons at it?

 

[mathman]

Thanks for the response. Could you push hydrogen by shooting electrons at it?

Possibly, but remember the mass ratio is almost 1000 to 1, so the effect would be minuscule unless the electrons were very fast.