Saturday, June 11, 2016

electromagnetism - "X-rays", "gamma rays", "sun rays"... But electromagnetic waves are NOT rays and DO NOT consist of rays?


In a separate question I'm struggling to figure out the nature of EM waves. But it's a vast topic and I'm trying to narrow it down to small specific questions.


It turns out that all electromagnetic waves are spatial wavefronts and neither waves are rays nor they consist of longitudinal rays. There is no such thing as rays in nature. Rays in optics are merely a mathematical approximation.


Is that true?



What about emitting individual photons? Do they travel in straight line trajectories?



Answer



Individual photons are not considered rays. Because of the wave and particle nature of photons, they are much more complicated than what they are generally thought of: a projectile of light. In fact, they do not have an exact measurable position, but do travel in straight line trajectories. What we consider rays are lines perpendicular to the wave front of light, which is basically its trajectory. Therefore, light can be represented as rays, but is not actually made up of rays.


P.S.: Light = EM waves.


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