Science Forums 2

[Moontanman]

Originally Posted by logy

in my hombel oppinion:

light is not affected by magneting or static electrical fields because it has no mass and it's speed is constant !
magnets and static electricity creat a force field which can accelerate objects that have mass and gain gain or loose kinetic energy and momentum, like say other magnets or an electrically chared charged piece of metal, but light itself travels at the speed of light, had no "rest mass" which means no mass for the purpose of this discussion and therefore will travel in a streight line unless one of the following happens.
1.it hits a reflecting or refracting surface
2. it enters a gravitational field, in which case, the curve in space itself will make it "curve".

simply put, since light had no mass and cannot be accelerated (as acceleration shanges speed), it will not react to a force.

While what you say may have some bearing on the process the fact that Photons have no charge is the main reason magnetic fields to not affect them. Massive particles with charge are affected as are less massive particles with charge. I know of no massless particles with charge but if they had charge a magnetic field would affect them. Particles with no charge are not affected no matter how massive they are.