Energy of photon never becomes zero

In summary: Newtonian equation you can plug in and get the right result.2) Photons are massless, so their speed remains constant at c.
  • #1
NIKHEL RAINA
20
0
as we know that light consist packets of energy called photons
And mass of a
body when moving with the speed of light increases so, the mass of photon increases when it moves with light and when mass increases its energy is also increasing it means that when light travels it never stops and continousely gain energy
But in reality intensity of light at certian distance becomes zero...why?
 
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  • #2
NIKHEL RAINA said:
as we know that light consist packets of energy called photons
And mass of a
body when moving with the speed of light increases so, the mass of photon increases when it moves with light and when mass increases its energy is also increasing it means that when light travels it never stops and continousely gain energy
But in reality intensity of light at certian distance becomes zero...why?

An object with (rest) mass never moves at the speed of light relative to any inertial observer. It gains energy and speed by forces acting on it. You can treat <total energy>/c^2 as relativistic mass, but this often just leads to confusion (there is only one Newtonian formula you can plug it into and get the right result).

A photon never changes energy or speed relative to an inertial observer. However, its energy (but not speed) are observer dependent due to the Doppler effect.

The decrease in intensity of light with distance is unrelated to photon's energy, it is a function of the number of photons per unit area. If you had a perfectly collimated ideal laser, its intensity would not change with distance. If you have N photons/second emitted in a spherical pattern, then as you double distance you have 1/4 as many photons per unit area.
 
  • #3
NIKHEL RAINA said:
the mass of photon increases when it moves with light and when mass increases its energy is also increasing it means that when light travels it never stops and continousely gain energy
None of this is correct. A photon has whatever energy it has (proportional to its frequency) and its (invariant) mass is always zero. It does not gain invariant mass nor relativistic mass nor energy as it travels.
 
  • #4
NIKHEL RAINA said:
as we know that light consist packets of energy called photons
And mass of a
body when moving with the speed of light increases so, the mass of photon increases when it moves with light and when mass increases its energy is also increasing it means that when light travels it never stops and continousely gain energy
But in reality intensity of light at certian distance becomes zero...why?

The mass m of an object is invariant. You seem to refer to the mass M that appears in very old textbooks and in some 'popular' presentations of relativity. In any case that M is only defined for massive particles, not for photons.

A photon is a massless particle m=0. Precisely being massless is the reason that its speed is constant and equals c.
 
  • #5
PAllen said:
An object with (rest) mass never moves at the speed of light relative to any inertial observer. It gains energy and speed by forces acting on it. You can treat <total energy>/c^2 as relativistic mass, but this often just leads to confusion (there is only one Newtonian formula you can plug it into and get the right result).

A photon never changes energy or speed relative to an inertial observer. However, its energy (but not speed) are observer dependent due to the Doppler effect.

The decrease in intensity of light with distance is unrelated to photon's energy, it is a function of the number of photons per unit area. If you had a perfectly collimated ideal laser, its intensity would not change with distance. If you have N photons/second emitted in a spherical pattern, then as you double distance you have 1/4 as many photons per unit area.

Dear it may be due to my little knowledge but if u try to explain more pricisely step wise that how mass of moving proton not increase so i am able to understood
E-mc"
 
  • #6
I would say that if the mass of the proton is equal to zero and you follow the basic rules of multiplication the answer is there. However i believe you ask the question under the assumption that the photon must have mass. E is equal to the mass times the speed of light squared would also mean that the photon has no energy to work backwards. I may be completely wrong and probably am
 
  • #7
NIKHEL RAINA said:
Dear it may be due to my little knowledge but if u try to explain more pricisely step wise that how mass of moving proton not increase so i am able to understood
E-mc"

Do you mean proton or photon? I'll answer both:

1) If a proton is accelerated, its energy increases. You can choose to consider this (increasing) E/c^2 as increasing relativistic mass - but this leads to confusion because you can't use in place of mass most formulas of Newtonian mechanics. Thus, my preference is just to see it as increasing energy, while rest mass remains constant.

2) A photon cannot be accelerated and cannot change energy relative to a given inertial observer. Different inertial observers can see a given photon having different energies. It is very misleading to view a photons 'relativistic mass' as E/c^2 - you will almost always be led to wrong conclusions doing this.

3) I explained already how light intensity decreasing with distance is related only to number of photons per unit area.
 
  • #8
PAllen said:
A photon never changes energy or speed relative to an inertial observer. However, its energy (but not speed) are observer dependent due to the Doppler effect.
Could you explain your statement wrt gravitational red- and blueshift?
 
  • #9
Passionflower said:
Could you explain your statement wrt gravitational red- and blueshift?

The context was pure SR. I saw no need to add confusion; there was enough already.
 
  • #10
PAllen said:
Do you mean proton or photon? I'll answer both:

1) If a proton is accelerated, its energy increases. You can choose to consider this (increasing) E/c^2 as increasing relativistic mass - but this leads to confusion because you can't use in place of mass most formulas of Newtonian mechanics. Thus, my preference is just to see it as increasing energy, while rest mass remains constant.

2) A photon cannot be accelerated and cannot change energy relative to a given inertial observer. Different inertial observers can see a given photon having different energies. It is very misleading to view a photons 'relativistic mass' as E/c^2 - you will almost always be led to wrong conclusions doing this.

3) I explained already how light intensity decreasing with distance is related only to number of photons per unit area.
Sorry for confusing u i wrote proton instead of photon
 
  • #11
NIKHEL RAINA said:
as we know that light consist packets of energy called photons
And mass of a
body when moving with the speed of light increases so, the mass of photon increases when it moves with light and when mass increases its energy is also increasing it means that when light travels it never stops and continousely gain energy
But in reality intensity of light at certian distance becomes zero...why?

You have a very faulty understanding of Special Relativity. Please read the FAQ subforums, both in the General Physics forum and the Relativity forum.

Zz.
 

Related to Energy of photon never becomes zero

1. What is a photon?

A photon is a fundamental unit of light and electromagnetic radiation. It is a discrete packet of energy that carries the properties of both a particle and a wave.

2. How does the energy of a photon never become zero?

The energy of a photon is determined by its frequency, which is a measure of how many times the wave oscillates per second. As long as the photon exists, it will always have a non-zero frequency and therefore a non-zero energy.

3. Can the energy of a photon decrease over time?

No, the energy of a photon cannot decrease over time. Since it is a fundamental unit of light, it cannot be broken down into smaller parts. The energy of a photon can only change if it interacts with other particles or is absorbed by matter.

4. Is it possible for a photon to have a negative energy?

No, a photon cannot have a negative energy. The energy of a photon is always positive and is directly proportional to its frequency, which is a positive value.

5. Why is it important to understand that the energy of a photon never becomes zero?

Understanding that the energy of a photon never becomes zero is important because it helps us understand how light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation behave. It also has practical applications in fields such as optics, telecommunications, and energy production.

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