• @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    11 year ago

    Genuine question, how do we know that photons are being emitted that never get absorbed if observing them requires absorbing them? Is it an energy loss type of thing with the emmiter where we have to assume x many photons had to have been emitted to explain the loss?

    • Neato
      link
      fedilink
      31 year ago

      Because we know how different things emit photons. We know a light bulb emits photons in all directions because we can move around and measure it. And we can see the photons being emitted from objects receiving the initial light bulb’s light as well so we know it’s emitting light in that direction as well.

      The idea that photons are only emitted if they hit something also doesn’t make sense because of power usage and how we know particle physics work.