3 ms·
> they don't turn matter into light but rather light is created when the energy level of electrons changes (whether in electric or chemical light sources). > O
by kobeya 9y ago
> they don't turn matter into light but rather light is created when the energy level of electrons changes (whether in electric or chemical light sources).
> Of course indirectly, this energy comes from matter being turned into energy, whether by the sun or by nuclear fission.
This is incorrect. It directly comes from matter as the rest mass of the low energy state is a minuscule amount less than high energy state. Specifically it is E/c^2 less, where E is the energy of the photon.
- eternauta3k 9y agoParent is talking about different processes that produce photons: classical acceleration of charged particles vs particle-antiparticle annihilation. You brought in a fact from general relativity which has no bearing on which processes are more common in the universe. Of course you can always be pedantic and analyze problems at the wrong level. For example, you can say it's all the same QED vertex in the end.
- kobeya 9y agoThey are fundamentally the same mechanism by our current understanding of physics. It is not a pedantic point.