Once an object surpasses a certain speed it breaks the sound barrier and a sonic boom is formed. Shouldn't photons from light constantly make micro sonic booms. Or does it require a certain amount of mass? It would be devastatingly interesting to have constant sonic booms everywhere 24/7

Well photons have no mass so this probably has something to do with why they don't interact with the atmosphere. The bigger reason is probably their size though. Photons are much much smaller than the molecules in the air so they just pass through with out hitting them for the most part.

becuase photons are an event, not a physical object, if u understood the basics of quantom u wouldn't say such retarded bullshit
ever heard of virtual particles, lmk

ever looked into the sun and felt the burn? that's how virtual they are.

pretty much how a fist to your face helps in explaining the abstract meaning of 'energy'.

u dont understand what you are actually feeling. Heat doesn't travel through space, the light leaves the sun, and travels through space in a 3 dimensional wave (spiral) and when it comes in contact with the earth and its magnetic field the waves are compressed and the molecules in the air become more energetic and thats how u feel "burn"

energy does not exist. to exist something has to be an object with a location. it defies the definition, therefore it is a concept

what you feel is not heat but photoreceptors overloading. you can argue whacko physics all you want but please stay away from biology.

also, how is this what you describe as light not what most people call energy (that is, something which has the capacity to generate work, I quote 'make the molecules in the air more energetic')? you're using definitions that are faulty by your own standard!

e: typo, it's late

This post was edited by Gurby on Aug 22 2010 07:46pm

photons do have mass. but they are too small to interact with air molecules enough to make any noise. they do collide more with denser materials (the ocean, the sidewalk, your eyeballs etc) but are not heavy enough to make any noise.

This post was edited by juliusjuice on Aug 23 2010 01:07pm

Nope, according to theory photons have 0 mass. That's why they travel the speed of light. It's impossible for anything with mass to travel the speed of light.

I think the real issue is that photons are just way too small to interact with the atmosphere in such a significant way. Sonic booms are caused by pressure waves, it takes something of significant size like a plane or a bullet to create this sudden localized increase in pressure.

the tip of a whip can also do it.

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