I may not dabble in the sciences anymore, but everything I ever learned came rushing back in an instant! This was an insightful, clear and refreshing read. Well done, Rex.
PS I'll do my best to stay humble now that I've achieved "inspirational" status 😂
Hey Rex, thank you for your post. I found it interesting especially because I know nothing in this field.
I have a couple of questions though:
1. Is all light a result of annihilation radiation?
2. What makes an electron an electron and a proton a proton if they carry the same kind of charge?
3. If photons have zero rest mass and the theory of relativity says energy and mass are convertible, can't we say photons have mass and what would the implication of that be?
1. No, not all light is a result of annihilation radiation. Light is generally produced by the transition of atoms from a higher energy level to a lower energy level which releases the energy in photons. A photon is a spatially localized, discrete energy quanta of electromagnetic waves (a unit of electromagnetic radiation). the photons that are actually being released here are gamma rays.
2. Electrons and protons are differentiated by their charge, the former being negative and the latter being positive. However, if you meant positrons and electrons, the difference is that positrons are electrons moving backwards in time which was proposed by Ernst Stuekelberg with Richard Feynman later supporting it. The basic gist that all things must be balanced, so for every particle, there is a antiparticle. so the antiparticle of an electron is the positron.
3. I don't really understand the question here, but photons do not have a rest mass because they are always moving at the speed of light and it is impossible to stop photons in a vacuum. You can check https://profoundphysics.com/why-do-photons-have-no-mass-simple-proof/ for further details .
Hey, thank you for answering. I had to ask ChatGPT about your response to (1) to clarify my question, myself.
From the article, I understand that mass is the energy of a particle at rest. And because photons are constantly moving, they technically can't have a rest value of energy aka mass. Thank you and please continue writing about this; it's great to learn!
As to "positrons are electrons moving backwards in time", now that's interesting haha. Would definitely follow up on that. Stuff is crazy.
Truly, "no knowledge is ever wasted."
I may not dabble in the sciences anymore, but everything I ever learned came rushing back in an instant! This was an insightful, clear and refreshing read. Well done, Rex.
PS I'll do my best to stay humble now that I've achieved "inspirational" status 😂
Hey Rex, thank you for your post. I found it interesting especially because I know nothing in this field.
I have a couple of questions though:
1. Is all light a result of annihilation radiation?
2. What makes an electron an electron and a proton a proton if they carry the same kind of charge?
3. If photons have zero rest mass and the theory of relativity says energy and mass are convertible, can't we say photons have mass and what would the implication of that be?
Thank you for your questions.
1. No, not all light is a result of annihilation radiation. Light is generally produced by the transition of atoms from a higher energy level to a lower energy level which releases the energy in photons. A photon is a spatially localized, discrete energy quanta of electromagnetic waves (a unit of electromagnetic radiation). the photons that are actually being released here are gamma rays.
2. Electrons and protons are differentiated by their charge, the former being negative and the latter being positive. However, if you meant positrons and electrons, the difference is that positrons are electrons moving backwards in time which was proposed by Ernst Stuekelberg with Richard Feynman later supporting it. The basic gist that all things must be balanced, so for every particle, there is a antiparticle. so the antiparticle of an electron is the positron.
3. I don't really understand the question here, but photons do not have a rest mass because they are always moving at the speed of light and it is impossible to stop photons in a vacuum. You can check https://profoundphysics.com/why-do-photons-have-no-mass-simple-proof/ for further details .
Hey, thank you for answering. I had to ask ChatGPT about your response to (1) to clarify my question, myself.
From the article, I understand that mass is the energy of a particle at rest. And because photons are constantly moving, they technically can't have a rest value of energy aka mass. Thank you and please continue writing about this; it's great to learn!
As to "positrons are electrons moving backwards in time", now that's interesting haha. Would definitely follow up on that. Stuff is crazy.