light waves through vaccum?
If waves need a medium to be carried through, and light is an example of a periodic wave, then how does light get transported through vacuum, like the light from the sun?
If waves need a medium to be carried through, and light is an example of a periodic wave, then how does light get transported through vacuum, like the light from the sun?
Allen C
Favorite Answer
light has both properties of a particle and a wave... photon is what a particle of light is called... it carries energy like a wave... it was thought that light needed a medium to travel through space... they called it "Luminiferous aether" in early physics... but relativity and quantum theories proved that there is no such thing... and photons travel just fine through the vaccum of space @ about 3.00x 10^8 m/s
Anonymous
Light does NOT need a medium to travel, and the experiment which showed this to be the case is one of the most famous in all of physics: it led to Einstein's Theory of Relativity. Read up on the Michelson-Morley experiment for details (it is probably in Wikipedia).
nns_jughead
Sorry sir.. electromagnetic waves like light do NOT need a medium to pass. Your assumption is flawed.
satyaprakash
it incredibly is frequently spoke back from 2 view factors, from the section of electromagnetic waves and quantum mechanics. mild is made out of electric fields and magnetic fields that are at top angles to a minimum of one yet another - consequently mild is referred to as an electromagnetic wave. The magnetic and electric fields initiate at factors because of the oscillation of costs, so as that they initiate the place there is count, it incredibly isn't any vacuum. some thing could happen to those magnetic and electric fields at a boundary between count and vacuum. without worry skill could be conserved on the boundary between count and vacuum. it incredibly is a regulation of physics. consequently the electrical powered fields and magnetic fields propagate by using vacuum because of the fact skill could be conserved. it incredibly is the wave theory. In quantum mechanics, mild could nicely be a wave and particle (it incredibly is referred to as wave particle duality). it is not till you degree the area of the wave or particle are you able to declare despite if it behaves as a wave or it behaves as a particle. So, mild could nicely be seen as debris - referred to as photons - and debris can holiday for the era of a vacuum. The question you're asking is very complicated. I studied physics at college, and it takes years of analysis to truly comprehend the respond to this question. the fairly some answer isn't smart maths, in spite of the shown fact that it extremely is approximately cautious theory experiments and an area of physics referred to as metaphysics. the authentic answer is defined making use of a container of physics referred to as Quantum Electrodynamics that's the quantum theory of the electromagnetism - it extremely is referred to as a quantum container theory. Does this help?