raid517 Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Can someone explain what light is? (Or what your opinion of it is?). I am very curious to know people's views on this. GJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiffle Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 electromagnetic radiation at a wavelength visible to the human eye.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raid517 Posted October 6, 2005 Author Share Posted October 6, 2005 Yes, but what do you thing is is? What is it 'made of'? That is the school book explanation - but it still doesn't say what light is. GJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincent Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Light is the everyday/everywhere radiation that we can see and that interacts with us 24/7 365, light has different frequencies and/or wavelengths? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincent Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Yes but again does that explain for you what light is? What are these wave lengths - or in other words what do they consist of?Sorry if I sound a bit anal on this, but this sort of stuff really interests me. (I mean I like to hear what most people know about them). Surely it isn't enough to say light is a wavelenth and then be done with it? A wavelength is just a mathematical measurement. The question is, what is it measuring? GJ 586631883[/snapback] For me that is what explains it for me, so far. I think they consist of particles very very minute (sp?) particles. That is the best way i can interpret my understanding of light. It also is a form of energy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raid517 Posted October 6, 2005 Author Share Posted October 6, 2005 Yes but again does that explain for you what light is? What are these wave lengths - or in other words what do they consist of? Sorry if I sound a bit anal on this, but this sort of stuff really interests me. (I mean I like to hear what most people know about them). Surely it isn't enough to say light is a wavelenth and then be done with it? A wavelength is just a mathematical measurement. The question is, what is it measuring? GJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjaminzsj Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 I think it's kind of radiation of energy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insanekiwi Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength that is visible to the eye (visible light) or, in a technical or scientific setting, electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength. The three basic dimensions of light (and of all electromagnetic radiation) are: * intensity (or brilliance or amplitude, perceived by humans as the brightness of the light), * frequency (or wavelength, perceived by humans as the color of the light), and * polarization (or angle of vibration and not perceptible by humans under ordinary circumstances) so imo there is no need to explain it further. it's a form of radiation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincent Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength that is visible to the eye (visible light) or, in a technical or scientific setting, electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength. The three basic dimensions of light (and of all electromagnetic radiation) are: * intensity (or brilliance or amplitude, perceived by humans as the brightness of the light), * frequency (or wavelength, perceived by humans as the color of the light), and * polarization (or angle of vibration and not perceptible by humans under ordinary circumstances) so imo there is no need to explain it further. it's a form of radiation. 586632021[/snapback] well again, the text book definition can be said by anyone who looks it up, what is being sought here is other's personal explanation of what light is. raid517 is asking people's personal theories on how light interacts, effects object whether it be local, global, stellar, or interstellar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiffle Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Yes, but what do you thing is is? What is it 'made of'? That is the school book explanation - but it still doesn't say what light is.GJ 586631747[/snapback] Photons. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photon Its not a "what I think it is" issue, which suggests opinion, its a matter of scientific fact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raid517 Posted October 6, 2005 Author Share Posted October 6, 2005 Well that's not quite true. It is accurate to say that 'electromagnetic radiation at a wavelength visible to the human eye'. But that still does not say anything about what light is made of. Let me rephrase the question. Is light a wave or a particle? Again I would be very interested to hear everyones views on this. GJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
remix17 Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Well that's not quite true. It is accurate to say that 'electromagnetic radiation at a wavelength visible to the human eye'. But that still does not say anything about what light is made of.Let me rephrase the question. Is light a wave or a particle? Again I would be very interested to hear everyones views on this. GJ 586632533[/snapback] It is a wave. It is a particle. But it's not both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Carlton Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 it is a quantized amount of energy that can be observed as a wave or a particle depending on the situation. It is made of energy. The energy is in such a state that it can be near or on the line where it is converted into matter, but can be converted back to energy instantaneously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonkeyClaw Veteran Posted October 7, 2005 Veteran Share Posted October 7, 2005 light is made up of photons, bosons that act as a wave when emited. they are emited when an electron performs a quantum leap over a band gap aka when it jumps from one energy level to the next or to be more exact when it falls from a higher level to a lower level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raid517 Posted October 7, 2005 Author Share Posted October 7, 2005 That's better, but that still only says how it is produced and gives that product a name, it still does not in any sense say what light really is (what it is made of, how it interacts with the universe and so on) - which is what i am interested to people's most people's views on. GJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonkeyClaw Veteran Posted October 7, 2005 Veteran Share Posted October 7, 2005 well light is made up of photons which are bosons meaning they dont react with normal matter in the sense that the particles dont. energy does hence solar collectors. my view of light well is that, what i have learned. my view of light speed and going faster than or reaching, well i htink its basically the way of the sound barrier, it will be broken through some means. yes i know that it would take an infinite amount of energy to propel an object of infinite mass but i still think that it is a matter of time before we do find a way to break it and make that statement false. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sui'ke Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 i think light is made out of particles... they must have some sort of mass, light can be bended by gravitiy of planets, so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaguratuS Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 You seem to be looking for an answer we cannot give - MonkeyClaw gave a pretty thorough answer to the question. Light is not made of cheese afterall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonkeyClaw Veteran Posted October 9, 2005 Veteran Share Posted October 9, 2005 wouldnt that be awesome if it was though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Dragon Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 If you want to think about something kind of trippy - go outside in the middle of the day and look at a tree. What are seeing? The truth is what you're looking at, what you're seeing, is the sun. All the light that makes the shape of the tree is just a reflection of light originating from the sun. The tree is pretty much just an oddly-shaped, very crappy mirror. It's kind of hard to explain what I mean, but think about it long enough - you'll get what I'm saying. That tree is not emanating light - you're looking at the sun indirectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaguratuS Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 If you want to think about something kind of trippy - go outside in the middle of the day and look at a tree. What are seeing? The truth is what you're looking at, what you're seeing, is the sun. All the light that makes the shape of the tree is just a reflection of light originating from the sun. The tree is pretty much just an oddly-shaped, very crappy mirror. It's kind of hard to explain what I mean, but think about it long enough - you'll get what I'm saying. That tree is not emanating light - you're looking at the sun indirectly. 586644861[/snapback] Isn't that obvious though? I'd hope nobody thinks that objects suddenly start producing energy in the form of light when the sun's up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonkeyClaw Veteran Posted October 9, 2005 Veteran Share Posted October 9, 2005 you would be surprised... people where i live still think the world is flat and that it is only 4000 years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raid517 Posted October 9, 2005 Author Share Posted October 9, 2005 You seem to be looking for an answer we cannot give - MonkeyClaw gave a pretty thorough answer to the question.Light is not made of cheese afterall. 586644696[/snapback] I am not looking for answers, I'm looking for individual people's opinions. Which is a different thing entirely. I already have my own very definate views on the subject. GJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaguratuS Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 I am not looking for answers, I'm looking for individual people's opinions. Which is a different thing entirely. I already have my own very definate views on the subject.GJ 586645942[/snapback] Well, that's the problem, we know what light is scientifically. Are you just doing a survey as to what other people think light is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 Light is a particle which has wavelike properties. Light is electromagnetic radiation which comes in the form of photons (these carry packets of energy called quanta, which have NO mass, but DO have a momentum). There are several experiments you can do to show that Light has both Wave and Particle like properties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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