- #1
tolove
- 164
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I remember having great confusion when I first read about electromagnetic waves. I remember being introduced to a historical text about ether when I was a child, and thinking it was an unsolved puzzle. I'd never really been able to shake the question "What does an electromagnetic wave propagate through?"
I was thinking today, though, is it fair to compare a simple particle mass to an electromagnetic wave? No one is confused about Newton's first law when we talk about baseballs and spaceships drifting through space. However, can we simply apply the concept of the first law of motion to electromagnetic waves, and view an electromagnetic wave as a baseball with strange properties?
Or is there a more complicated explanation as to why electromagnetic waves can propagate through space?
I was thinking today, though, is it fair to compare a simple particle mass to an electromagnetic wave? No one is confused about Newton's first law when we talk about baseballs and spaceships drifting through space. However, can we simply apply the concept of the first law of motion to electromagnetic waves, and view an electromagnetic wave as a baseball with strange properties?
Or is there a more complicated explanation as to why electromagnetic waves can propagate through space?
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