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  1. Naked Science Forum
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  4. How does light travel in space? Is it a particle or a wave?
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How does light travel in space? Is it a particle or a wave?

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Offline afksf1944 (OP)

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How does light travel in space? Is it a particle or a wave?
« on: 15/04/2019 18:59:38 »
Light is composed of photons with frequencies from very low to very high. Those photons with a very low frequency and those with a very high frequencies almost behave like particles.
(Very high wavelength and very low wavelength photons travelling in any direction resemble particles moving in straight line)
   
Space fabric is full of minute holes acting as a filter in all three planes. The fabric material absorbs some photons on collision preventing them from passing through and as a result the fabric gains photons energy, expands accordingly and it cannot be seen. Only certain photons with certain frequencies can pass through.

Therefore, light travels as a wave and a particle and photons of certain frequencies are missing / cannot be detected.
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Offline Kryptid

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Re: How does light travel in space? Is it a particle or a wave?
« Reply #1 on: 15/04/2019 23:24:42 »
Quote from: afksf1944 on 15/04/2019 18:59:38
Only certain photons with certain frequencies can pass through.

Do you have any evidence for this?
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Offline afksf1944 (OP)

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Re: How does light travel in space? Is it a particle or a wave?
« Reply #2 on: 16/04/2019 10:00:15 »
This is what you would expect out of a filter. Its a prediction/conclusion.
If you let a light with many frequencies hit a plane with many minute holes, some photons with certain wavelengths will not be able to pass through holes they reach on the plane, they just miss them. In space they enter a cube and have to go through two planes in any direction.
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Offline evan_au

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Re: How does light travel in space? Is it a particle or a wave?
« Reply #3 on: 16/04/2019 11:36:50 »
Quote from:  afksf1944
Therefore, light travels as a wave and a particle and photons of certain frequencies are missing / cannot be detected.
Which frequencies can't be detected?

If we make these hypothetical holes big enough to allow submarine-communications frequencies (eg 40Hz ≡ 7500 km wavelength), then the holes are so big that every AM, FM, microwave, infra-red, visible light, X-Ray and Gamma Ray frequency will get through.

On the other hand, if we make the holes small enough to block some visible wavelengths, then submarine, AM, FM, microwave, infra-red light will all be blocked.

In reality, hot objects produce a black-body spectrum which contains all frequencies, and these travel quite well through space for millions or trillions of km.

Perhaps you are thinking of the absorption spectrum of a star? This is where darker lines are are superimposed on the continuous black body spectrum due to wavelengths absorbed by ions and atoms in the outer layers of the star. We know that it is not a property of space itself, because then we would expect the same lines in the spectrum of all stars.

In fact, different stars have slightly different chemical compositions and quite different temperatures, and so have different absorption lines in their spectra.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectral_line
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Offline afksf1944 (OP)

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Re: How does light travel in space? Is it a particle or a wave?Idid not say
« Reply #4 on: 16/04/2019 12:01:06 »
I did not say the missing frequencies are in the visible or none visible range. This will have to be investigated and proved just like any theory/prediction/conclusion.
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Offline afksf1944 (OP)

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Re: How does light travel in space? Is it a particle or a wave?Hi Evan
« Reply #5 on: 16/04/2019 22:52:15 »
Hi Evan.
It is not the size of the holes in the space fabric I was talking about. In fact I assumed that the holes were minute and they were evenly distributed.
It was the frequencies of the photons trying to travel through space. The amplitudes of the waves is not a factor in the process of travel. The only factor is the wavelength.
If the wavelength is long, the photon can be assumed to be travelling in a straight line and can pass through any vertical hole depending on wave amplitude and so acting as a particle. Similarly if the wavelength is very short, the above behaviour applies.
When the wavelength dictates that the photon is either just above or below the hole in the vertical row, of course it will collide and get absorbed.
I hope that this is a better explanation

I feel that the idea is a possibility and can one day be proved right. Please let me have your comments.
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