Brain teaser

[ryan0]

A photon is a particle with no mass,but if something has no mass,does it actually exist?
This means a photon is both existant and non-existant at the same time 

inb4 wind,wind is carrying air,which does have a mass

I've got to write a paper on "The point between existance and non-existance" for Philosophy Club.

Thoughts please 

[H-Sauce]

We was going through all of this in Physics on monday.  Although, Me and my mates just turned it into a joke.

How can you right a paper, If the paper is technically nothing, if the pencil is technically nothing? How can I type this message, if my laptop is technically nothing.

I was told I was nothing. I lost so much self esteem that day lmao.

[ryan0]

LOL wait until you get into quantum physics,its so messed up.

Back to the question,can a particle such as a photon with no physical presence or mass still exist?And more importantly why can a photon be,for the most part,reflected when it has no physical presence or mass,when a neutron, which does have mass,can go through a lightyear of lead without at all being affected?

[H-Sauce]

Depends if you see it as absolutely no mass or just pretty much no mass.

[ryan0]

Depends if you see it as absolutely no mass or just pretty much no mass.

A photon is the only particle with no mass whatsoever,at all,zilch,zero,zip.
A neutrino will convert an atom of chlorine to an atom of argon,but a photon does no such thing.

[H-Sauce]

Ah. I see. Maybe a floor in particle theory? Idk.

We may have just disproved particle theory xD

[PhenomenalDesigns]

Isn't a photon about 0.0004 the mass of a neutron?

[H-Sauce]

A photon has NO rest mass. (That sounds like I'm trying to be harsh lmao, I'm not). Although it exhibits properties similiar to waves.... STOP IT GARHH I'M BEING MADE TO FEEL STUPID AND EXTREMELY CONFUSED D:

[ryan0]

Isn't a photon about 0.0004 the mass of a neutron?

That's a proton,not a photon.

[alentris]

A photon has no mass but does exist as a force of nature, just like ideas do.

[802Chives]

luminiferous ether.... riddle solved. LOL or is it?

[ryan0]

A photon has no mass but does exist as a force of nature, just like ideas do.

An idea is a reaction in the brain cells,quantum mechanics performing calculations (to the best of our knowledge),they can already replicate this on a very VERY small level,as in particles performing calculations.The brain cells change as the calculation is being performed,so the brain cells are in fact changing on a miniscule level,so it has *techincally* a physical presence,whereas a photon contains no mass whatsoever and therefore has no physical presence.

luminiferous ether.... riddle solved. LOL or is it?

Before I delve into luminiferous aether,anybody reading this should note that this theory is a THEORY and not fact and therefore should be researched with caution
The whole aether theory whether from Newton,Lorentz OR Einstein,has still not been fully accepted by the scientific community,this is because Einstein's Theory of Relativity has not been proven (and most likely never will).
The Aether theory explains how light can travel,but it's fatal flaw is its' direct contradiction of the laws of physics that state nothing can travel faster than light,because the aether theory relies on the medium being able to transmit vibrations FASTER than the speed of light,not waves or particles,but VIBRATIONS.So basically this theory is saying that science is wrong and that a medium with mass can vibrate faster than the speed of light.

But that still doesn't explain the question I asked above,if a photon has no mass,does it exist?Can something "exist" on a non-pysical level?What seperates existence or non-existance?

[802Chives]

If I recall correctly the Luminiferous Ether actually was disproven as a valid theory a very long time ago... It was an answer the science types came up with to explain what they couldnt explain(well over a hundred years ago) being this very discussion of how light can exist without mass.

this a pretty deep topic and I am not going to pretend that I know anything about philosophy as a subject matter, but to answer your question I think that the thing that seperates existance and non existance is all about the rhetoric of the word existance, it really comes down to whatever context it is used in.  Scientifically speaking there isnt a person on this planet that will tell you that photons dont exist, except maybe a quantum physist and even then they are really just looking for some conversation cuz nobody can stand to listen to them. lol, good luck with your paper.

[alentris]

An idea is a reaction in the brain cells,quantum mechanics performing calculations (to the best of our knowledge),they can already replicate this on a very VERY small level,as in particles performing calculations.The brain cells change as the calculation is being performed,so the brain cells are in fact changing on a miniscule level,so it has *techincally* a physical presence,whereas a photon contains no mass whatsoever and therefore has no physical presence.

Before I delve into luminiferous aether,anybody reading this should note that this theory is a THEORY and not fact and therefore should be researched with caution
The whole aether theory whether from Newton,Lorentz OR Einstein,has still not been fully accepted by the scientific community,this is because Einstein's Theory of Relativity has not been proven (and most likely never will).
The Aether theory explains how light can travel,but it's fatal flaw is its' direct contradiction of the laws of physics that state nothing can travel faster than light,because the aether theory relies on the medium being able to transmit vibrations FASTER than the speed of light,not waves or particles,but VIBRATIONS.So basically this theory is saying that science is wrong and that a medium with mass can vibrate faster than the speed of light.

But that still doesn't explain the question I asked above,if a photon has no mass,does it exist?Can something "exist" on a non-pysical level?What seperates existence or non-existance?

Therefore, one photon = a cup full of kittens x the root of 7. Easy.

[H-Sauce]

I spoke to my Physics teacher yesterday. He says although it has no rest mass, it does have a different type of mass. I fogot what it was, it began with the letter r.

[injungleist]

wouldn't it be called anti-matter. if it has positive or negative or no matter. it still has something. for example anti matter has the opposite of matter so it would be -1.000000. you cant divide something by 0. so it has to have some property.

[ryan0]

wouldn't it be called anti-matter. if it has positive or negative or no matter. it still has something. for example anti matter has the opposite of matter so it would be -1.000000. you cant divide something by 0. so it has to have some property.

Open your mind dude,there are questions which supposedly can't be answered that need to be answered,Einstein once said "if the facts don't match the theory,disprove the facts".WE can't divide by zero only because it's a force which doesn't effect us,at least to our knowledge,but never say it's "impossible".



@Chives
I've always been intrigued by the theory of Luminforous Ether,the only reason it was rejected was because accepting it as valid would mean accepting the existence of anti-matter and therefore also accepting that one can divide by zero,which we can't do.......yet heheh

[injungleist]

Open your mind dude,there are questions which supposedly can't be answered that need to be answered,Einstein once said "if the facts don't match the theory,disprove the facts".WE can't divide by zero only because it's a force which doesn't effect us,at least to our knowledge,but never say it's "impossible".

first off i never said it was impossiable, all i was saying was if the mass was something smaller than what we can prove, there is still mass either way +/-.
heres my example, if you dropped a particle into water, does the particle get wet or does the water get a particle (thanks to they might be giants)
and how does one weigh nothing or tell that it does not weigh...

[ryan0]

a particle is too small to be able to absorb water,therefore the water gets a particle