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    Yusf's Avatar
    Yusf Posts: 198, Reputation: 3
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    #1

    Sep 22, 2016, 10:03 AM
    How does conservation of momentum apply to light being absorbed by an object
    Yeah. The heading says it all.
    ma0641's Avatar
    ma0641 Posts: 15,675, Reputation: 1012
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    #2

    Sep 22, 2016, 07:07 PM
    Start by reading this or similar topics. Because light has little mass, it is hard to measure.
    Conservation of momentum
    ebaines's Avatar
    ebaines Posts: 12,131, Reputation: 1307
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    #3

    Sep 23, 2016, 07:12 AM
    Quote Originally Posted by ma0641 View Post
    Start by reading this or similar topics. Because light has little mass, it is hard to measure.
    Conservation of momentum
    Light doesn't have "little mass," it has zero mass. But photons do carry momentum:



    where p = momentum, h = Planck's Constant, and = the wavelength of the light. The article you linked to describes momentum only from a classical Newtonian perspective, so doesn't address the OP's question.

    To the OP: the momentum of a photon can be transferred into an atom or molecule and thus change that particle's physical momentum. An example is the effect of "radiation pressure" caused by photons from the sun impacting on a space craft, thus affecting its trajectory - engineers have to take this into account when calculating the trajectory of a probe flying to, say, Jupiter. More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_pressure
    Yusf's Avatar
    Yusf Posts: 198, Reputation: 3
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    #4

    Sep 23, 2016, 10:44 AM
    I understand. Thanks ebaines!

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