Monday, June 17, 2013

What is light?

What is  light and what moves so fast?
What is light? And what is the force that causes the light to pass through at a fast pace? I read online that is made of photons, but I do not know what they are. Please try to dumb down some because I'm only 16 years, and really have not been educated in physics. And no this is not homework.

Suggested Jim
I have no idea what the light is "made."

Photons have no mass. Therefore, the force required is 0.

Welcome to Disneyland.

Sorry to be sarcastic. Read Give yourself a link - this is food for thought.

Suggested Lagerbaer
It's a bit hard to explain when you do not know much about physics.

First, what is light? Is a wavelength of the electromagnetic field. What is it? An electric current charging opposite charges attract. Another way of saying this is to say that electric charge creates an electric field around it. Similarly, a magnet around it creates a magnetic field. In the 19th century, it was discovered that an electric field changing in time creates a magnetic field and a changing magnetic field in time creates an electric field.

An electromagnetic wave is an electric motor and a magnetic field is constantly changing in time and thereby creating another. This wave is exactly what is light. Depending on the speed with which the fields change with time, the light has a different color, or is invisible because it is outside the range that our eyes can see (microwave, X-ray, ultraviolet, infrared ... )

There is no real explanation of why has the speed that you have. The speed of light is a constant of nature. He is right, and we must accept it as a premise. (You can mathematically derive other laws of physics, but then one must accept the premise thereof).

Now, what happens to the photon? I'm just saying that light is an electromagnetic field that changes rapidly with time, creating a wave. If you look closely, we find that the energy of light of a certain color is in very small pieces very specific energy that is unique for each color. These parts are the photon energy.