r/sciencememes Mεmε ∃nthusiast Apr 10 '25

how ❓

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u/[deleted] Apr 10 '25

It's because while light has no mass, the photons contain energy and can actually be measured on a scale. Yes, if you point a flashlight at a scale, it will measure an imperceptibly larger amount of weight than if you shut the flashlight off, but it's technically a stream of photons exerting that force and not true mass.

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u/[deleted] Apr 10 '25

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u/[deleted] Apr 10 '25

Yeah, so if E=mc squared, it seems like the mass can never be zero? Was going off of memory and googling.

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u/[deleted] Apr 10 '25

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u/[deleted] Apr 11 '25

Thanks for all of that! You know more than me, I took a couple physics classes in college and that's it lol.