Thread: speed of light

HI
To the best of my knowledge photons travel at the speed of light and in a waveform, literally up and down charting a zig-zag path.

I assume c - the speed of light, refers to time taken for a photon to journey from a to b without considering the up and down extra distance covered.
so do photons actually travel far faster than the speed of light???

Originally Posted by pedronaut

HI
To the best of my knowledge photons travel at the speed of light and in a waveform, literally up and down charting a zig-zag path.

I assume c - the speed of light, refers to time taken for a photon to journey from a to b without considering the up and down extra distance covered.
so do photons actually travel far faster than the speed of light???

You are confusing the classical descvription of an electromagnetic wave with the quantum mechanical description of light in terms of photons.

Could you explain the quantum mechanical description of light?

Originally Posted by pristine.xenon

Could you explain the quantum mechanical description of light?

...............photons


Physic Lectures on (QED)

Originally Posted by pristine.xenon

Could you explain the quantum mechanical description of light?

A photon is a quantum of electromagnetic energy. It is the smallest discrete amount of energy you can have for a given frequency of light. It is an energy "packet".