Quote:
Originally Posted by Cherry7
Light travels at the speed of light in a vacuum , but in other mediums it slows down, hence it is bent to form nuddy pics.
But this is the bit I don't understand, after it comes out off glass where does the energy come from for it to speed up again to "light speed" ?
How is possible for it to be slowing down and speeding up?
Or is it always traveling at the same speed but glass is like a windy road ?
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Something like the winding road. The photons travel at the same speed. We know that some substances, like wood, absorb light. At the particle level, that means photons are absorbed by the molecules in the wood.
In other substances, we day that light is transmitted through. In glass, the individual photons are briefly absorbed, then re-emitted. The rate of absorption and re-emission controls how long it takes for a photon to make it all the way through the material.
So while the photons move at velocity C, the time spent on absorbtion reduces the average velocity.
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