From: Prof. Gomes (profgomes@geocities.com)
Date: Thu Dec 04 1997 - 15:19:30 MST
At 07:22 04/12/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Quick question, want feedback and sources of literature. As far as I know
only members of the electromagnetic spectrum can travel at the speed of
light. If it is impossible to get anything with mass to travle the speed of
light, because it would need infinite energy, and light has a wave/particle
duality...then how do photons of light get the energy to travel at that speed?
First of all, sorry for the conceptual simplifications, but they seem
necessary...:
Well, in matter-energy transformations, the photons' total energy is
equivalent to the original matter:
mc^2 = sum(hv)
So m=sum(hv)/c^2 is the mass wich was transformed in c-velocity (always)
photons... (or vice-versa)
Ex: In simpler e+ / e- anihilation, we have after 1 photon with >= 1024
keV, wich equals to two 512 keV rest mass- equivalent eletrons ( + and - )
plus kinetic energies....
In the contrary effect, 1 photon of energy necessarily >= 1024 keV is
transformed in a pair positron-negatron, wich variant kinetic energies but
with "normal" velocities, very far from c (generally, slow eletrons).
Suggestion: Study these transformations.... who knows the answer you want is
there .....???
Does anybody know how much time lasts such transformations ??? And what
happens during them ???
Gomes.
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