Re: A 'Massless' question?


varun wrote:
it is a well known fact that light bends due to the force of
gravity(e.g. at the time of solar eclipse...we are able to see the
stars which are behind the Sun,beside the Sun)
according to g=G.m1.m2/r^2 >for gravity to affect ...there should be
some mass but photons do not have any mass(i mean to say rest mass)
then why does gravity affect it.
the Newtonian formula stated above may not be totally right(in
comparison to the einstein's laws) but a shift of few
arc-seconds(1arc-second=1/3600 of a degree) was predicted by this
formula (though it missed the observational data by a few arcseconds)
but the question is...WHY DOES LIGHT BEND WHEN IT HAS NO MASS?
i may be wrong some where...please correct me since i am just 16 years
old but much interested in this stuff
thanks
varun

A ray of light travels along what is referred to as a "null geodesic".
Since it is massless, it cannot accelerate, even along a geodesic path.
Thus, it is essentially following the curvature of spacetime, moving
everywhere along the path at a constant speed c.

.

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