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Re: [Phys-L] Photons and radio waves



From a very simplistic perspective, radio waves behave like waves --
they have sufficient wavelength to propagate around large objects. On
the other hand, once you get into the microwave and higher frequency
regions, the waves behave more like particles and reflecting off of
objects.

Dr. Roy Jensen
(==========)-----------------------------------------¤
Lecturer, Chemistry
E5-33F, University of Alberta
780.248.1808



On Sun, 6 Oct 2013 15:48:05 +0000, you wrote:

Hi,

a colleague asked my why photons are seldom, if ever, mentioned in the context of radio waves. It seems to be an interesting question. On one hand, it is clear that radio waves can be understood as very low-energy photons (lVERY arge wavelength when compared with visible light). On the other hand, one could think that radio waves do not easily exhibit their photon-like nature. Are there experiments which could be used to empirically show that radio waves are photons (not a good expression but you know what I mean...) in the same way as light is? For instance, how to observe the photoelectric effect or the Compton effect with very low-energy photon?

My guess is that almost everything one wants to do with radio waves can be done using Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism.

Any thoughts?

Regards,

Antti Savinainen
Finland