3 ms·

the electrons in the outer shells of metals are essentially free to move (which is why metals conduct electricity so well)

• mirimir 7y ago
  Yes. And yet, aren't photons still interacting with the metal atoms, not those ~free electrons?
  • Taniwha 7y ago
    depends on which they hit - this article seems to imply that when photons hit atoms their momentum is transferred conventionally, but when they hit electrons they move in the opposite direction (and induce a current on the surface)
    • mirimir 7y ago
      That's my question. Can photons actually "hit" electrons? I remember Feynman diagrams with electrons and photons, but that was about photons <-> electron, positron pairs. Free electrons accelerated laterally by magnetic fields emit ynchrotron radiation. But does that work in reverse? I've never heard of that. But again, IANAP.