Question

When you turn light into a solid barrier, what are you actually doing to the energy particles to make them hard enough to act like steel?

Accepted Answer

Turning light into a solid barrier is not like building a wall out of bricks. Light is made of tiny packets of energy called photons. Normally, these packets zoom past each other without touching. To make light act like a solid object, scientists use a process called photon-photon interaction. This forces photons to crash into each other so hard that they stick together. Think of it like two fast cars crashing; instead of passing through each other, they lock together into a mangled heap of metal. When these photons collide inside a special container of super-cold atoms, they gain mass. Mass is the stuff that makes up physical things like your body or a steel bar. By giving the light mass, the photons stop moving like light and start acting like tiny, solid particles. This makes the light clump together into a rigid structure. It is not really steel, but it gains enough density and weight to bump into other things rather than just passing through them.

When you turn light into a solid barrier, what are you actually doing to the energy particles to make them hard enough to act like steel?

Turning light into a solid barrier is not like building a wall out of bricks. Light is made of tiny packets of energy called photons. Normally, these packets zoom past each other without touching. To make light act like a solid object, scientists use a process called photon-photon interac....

Community Answers

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When you turn light into a solid barrier, what are you actually doing to the energy particles to make them hard enough to act like steel?

Turning light into a solid barrier is not like building a wall out of bricks. Light is made of tiny packets of energy called photons. Normally, these packets zoom past each other without touching. To make light act like a solid object, scientists use a process called photon-photon interac....

Community Answers