Question by : Reopening: Can light potentially move an object physically?
“Tristan”
“for example in space, objects are virtually weightless
i am wondering if light, cud transfer its energy into
another object and move it”
“Zeraphin”
“Yes Radiation Pressure of Light can be used to move
Objects, According to Einstein Relation E = pc Photons
Have a Momentum so Light Reflecting off a Surface
Generate a Small amount of Radiation Pressure, This
Method is Proposed to use on Solar Sails.”
However if solar wind and radiation pressure can be used
to propel an object through space, then how do we account
for those forces which are coming from all directions.
If a sail were postioned to recived these forces from
our sun, how can we overcome the “headwind”. Also, if we
were to overcome the “headwind” then how do we account
for the light coming at us, would this not create a red
shift? and if it were to create this redshift what would
the result be, could it produce gammarays on the object
flying through space?
Aslo, from this how could we specify a direct path? as the light would be transfering its enegery on any surface.
i would like to add that im not only talking about our system. because if we were moving at a high enough rate to increase the frequence of the light waves, im sure we would find a point where the force from the lightwaves behind us and the lightwaves infront of us would be equal,
Best answer:
Answer by David
When I was 8 years old I had a gadget. It was a glass globe (about the size of a baseball) that was sealed so it contained a vacuum. Inside of the globe was a shaft pointing up from the bottom and on top of the shaft was balanced a paddle wheel (for lack of a better description) on top of a pin point. The paddle wheel had 4 fins that were white on one side and black on the other and when you put this device under a desk lamp the wheel would spin and keep on spinning.
My understanding of how it worked was that the light (or heat?) from the light absorbed into the black side of the fins and would push the wheel around and around. There was very little resistance in the system (since it was in a vacuum no wind resistance, and since it balanced on a pin very little friction) because the pressure from the light would not be strong enough to overcome these forces.
So my answer is yes, but I cannot give you the scientific formulas to quantify the effect.
Give your answer to this question below!
