4 ms·
Don't photons have zero mass?
by pmontra 5y ago
Don't photons have zero mass?
- jhgb 5y agoPhotons have mass equal to their energy equivalent. And relativistic ions have most of their mass in the same form. So propulsion-wise, the two are almost equal...except that a light emitting diode is much simpler than a particle accelerator. Both would have very poor thrust, of course, and with existing energy sources, the waste mass from the energy production would be disproportional so neither would really be used for anything practical.
- at_a_remove 5y agoPhotons have zero rest mass. That sounds like hair-splitting but it is not.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]