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Anonymous
Anonymous asked in Science & MathematicsPhysics · 1 decade ago

do electrons travel at the same speed as photons in a vaccum?

Update:

but light is a type of electro magnetic radiation

Update 2:

no in a vacuum mass is still relevant

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  • 1 decade ago
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    Nope. Electrons have a "rest mass" above zero, which means they can never quite make it to lightspeed. Photons, when in motion, are always going lightspeed (although their average speed may be slowed when passing through a transparent medium, as they stop and start a lot).

  • 1 decade ago

    Light is an electromagnetic radiation, and theoritically no material object can travel at a speed greater than that of light.

    Electrons or any other particle travels at a speed depending on how they are produced and /or acclerated. Electrons being comparitively lighter can easily be acelerated almost to the speed of light.

  • 1 decade ago

    Photon travels with the speed of light. Electrons travel with a fraction of speed of light.

  • 1 decade ago

    Nope. Electrons have a "rest mass" above zero, which means they can never quite make it to lightspeed. Photons, when in motion, are always going lightspeed (although their average speed may be slowed when passing through a transparent medium, as they stop and start a lot).

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  • 1 decade ago

    photons travel at 300000000 m/sec.

    it is the fastest moving.

    electrons have rest mass.it moves slower than photons,even in vaccum

  • 1 decade ago

    The Photon I was following up the A38 was going very slowly indeed ... :-)

  • 1 decade ago

    ... they would be attached to some sort of atom, though. Impossible to know for sure,

    In a vacuum mass is irrelevant, is it not?

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