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What is a simple example that contradicts the theory that light (photons) could have a super small mass? [duplicate]

The obvious example is that, to bring something that has mass to the speed $c$ requires infinite energy due to special relativity. But what if a kid asked me "What if light/photos had a super ...
chausies's user avatar
  • 1,090
2 votes
5 answers
464 views

Is a photon truly massless? [duplicate]

First of all, I am not a physicist or mathematician, not even a hobbyist but the following statements have always puzzled me: $E=mc^2$ A photon is a desecrated particle of energy. A photon is ...
AUser's user avatar
  • 61
-2 votes
0 answers
37 views

Black hole production via light speed [duplicate]

As a test particle with rest mass approaches $c$ relativistic mass increases to infinity, does this mean that the energy required to continue the acceleration will create a black hole (as time also ...
John Pryme's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
58 views

Lightspeed and Mass=Gravity [duplicate]

As an object approaches the speed of light, its observed mass becomes infinitely large -- Does the Gravity of the object show a corresponding increase and become infinitely large?
Ralph Kelley's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
238 views

"Pure Energy" in special relativity and why does the rest energy follow from a derivation at the speed of light?

I'm currently studying special relativity by reading through the lecture notes of M. Fowler from the University of Virginia. The famous equation $E=mc^2$ is derived by analyzing the work done by a ...
Mika R.'s user avatar
  • 39
-5 votes
3 answers
123 views

If light had mass

Is there any way to know how fast would light be if it had a mass? Something like 0.000000178536 kg. At least a formula to help estimate it would help, i asked chatgpt and it said ''E = mc² E = (0....
the honored one's user avatar
-4 votes
1 answer
88 views

What's the speed limit for things with mass?

So the speed limit of the universe is 299 792 458 m/s, but only massless things like photons can archieve this speed. Since things that have mass can reach 99.99999...% speed of light, does that mean ...
comp_guy_dude's user avatar
-1 votes
3 answers
197 views

How much mass is needed to make the speed of light equal to 1 mile per second?

The speed of light in special relativity is a constant, 186,000 miles per second, but in general relativity, "the speed of a light wave depends on the strength of the gravitational potential ...
Khepera's user avatar
  • 29
1 vote
1 answer
112 views

How to show mathematical equivalence between the idea of relativistic mass and the geometric explanation of why massive objects can't reach $c$?

I've frequently seen two different explanations for why, in SR, it's impossible for an massive object to reach $c$: As a massive object approaches $c$, its kinetic energy starts being converted to ...
Mikayla Eckel Cifrese's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
551 views

Finding mass of photon with de Broglie wavelength

The de Broglie wavelength equation is given by: $$\lambda = \frac{h}{mv}$$ Even though this is used to find the wavelength of the matter (matter waves) , I was curious to find the mass of photon ...
Naveen V's user avatar
  • 648
0 votes
1 answer
130 views

Relativistic Mass Relative to a Stationary Observer

I know what you’re thinking, “Not another question on Relativistic Mass.” I’ve spent the better part of a day going down the general and special relativity rabbit holes, and I can not find where this ...
the_mellonator's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
113 views

How to measure static mass of light?

I am learning quantum chemistry using a book. In this book the author deduce $$p=\frac{h}{\lambda}$$ using three equations below $$E^2=m_0^2c^4+p^2c^2$$ $$E=\frac{hc}{\lambda}$$ $$m_0=0$$ But how ...
satoru kurita's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
92 views

Does Proca's hypothesis make sense of giving mass to the photon in reference to special relativity?

The Romanian physicist Proca formulated his famous Lagrangian to describe a hypothetical massive photon. From it we derive, as equations of motion, the relations that the electric and magnetic fields ...
user273366's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
156 views

Inertial frame of reference in special relativity

How could we measure rest mass of photon (that would be zero) when we agreed that photon can not be a inertial frame of reference (because of the dominator of Lorentz's transformation)?
mehrdad's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
39 views

Does local gravity change when approaching the speed of light? (Relativistic mass) [duplicate]

Let's say we'd transform earth into a giant space ship and had some planetary drive that can accelerate it without burning any kind of fuel (so the amount of matter on earth stays the same - we'd ...
matthias_buehlmann's user avatar

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