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Re: E=mc^2?



At 04:04 PM 23/06/99 -0700, you wrote:
>A Question:
>
>E=mc^2... C is relative to the vacuum(gravity bends a photon's path, the
>speed decreases). Would that mean that c, and hence E=mc^2, are relative to
>the vacuum around them? I don't know where I got this question... Just
>occurred to me...

I do believe that the speed of light in a vacuum remains constant at the value of c.  Light slows down in a transparent medium, such as air, glass, water, etc. because the photons are absorbed by atoms, the electrons jump up to a higher level, etc. and, eventually, the photon (well, a photon, not the same one) is emitted, all of which takes time.  But c itself does not change. As soon as a photon is emitted from an excited atom, it buzzes off at c until it gets absorbed in another atom.

Glenn
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