May explain some things about Washington, DC...Alternating current.
At the most inappropriate of times... when you've got to go, you've got to go >>>....Nature is unaware of this concept & is not forced to follow any laws. :P
Photons are sort of in a class of their own... despite the fact that they can exert force (as with a heliotrope), and can be influenced by gravity ("gravity lens" effect), they have no mass (as we understand it).
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resourc ... onmass.htm
But assuming they do have mass , consider the total mass of a bunch of photons streaming out of a light bulb... despite their velocity, the kinetic energy involved is like nothing compared to, say, hurricane-force wind entering the same house through an open door. A massive electron discharge would do more damage (although mostly due to disturbing the volume of air inside the house).
This is why a solar sail needs to be much, much larger in proportion to the payload it's moving than a sail on a boat, even though in space there is no resistance of air and water. In fact, a solar sail really wouldn't work in any environment other than space-grade vacuum, as far as I know... and even in space, it would take a looooong time for the sail to accelerate its payload anywhere near the speed of light.
That black hole thread got me thinking...
Let's start by reviewing a few fundamental laws of physics, shall we...
1) Anything that has mass, has gravity.
No matter how large, or how small, if it takes up space, it has gravity.
2) Anything that gravity can influence, has mass.
This is the logical flipside of the coin above.
3) Force equals mass times acceleration.
Simple enough.
4) Achem's (or Ockham's)Razor, All things being equal, the most simple explanation is probably the correct explanation.
Not quite a physical law, but pertinent to the discussion.
Now, why is it that your house doesn't explode when you turn on the lights in your living room?
Gravity pulls light, ergo, light has mass, and that mass is travelling at 186,000 miles per second......but no K-boom....why not? Any amount of mass, regardless of how little, travelling that fast SHOULD obliterate anything it comes in contact with, shouldn't it? :-?
I've always said, if you can find something that can defy the laws of physics, it's time to find new laws!
I might have an new explanation, but I'd like to hear your's first.
Thoughts?
Now, why is it that your house doesn't explode when you turn on the lights in your living room?
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