Quote:
Originally Posted by logy
Moderation note: the first 5 post of this thread were moved from [Q] Light and magnets , because they are more of an in-depth discussion of physics than a simple question & answer
in my humble 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.
|
hi,
EM fields bend the path of moving particles such as in the Solar Wind, or simply in a TV tube which uses EM fields to deflect (bend) electron paths.
Since light is both a wave and a particle at the same time, you might think that this would cause light to be bent if only you had a strong enough field.
