• Question: why can you see light in a vacuum

    Asked by tomm to Pete, Rebecca, SallyB, Sally, Sian on 22 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Sian Lawson

      Sian Lawson answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Sound is a pressure wave – a vibration – so it needs something to vibrate.

      Light is electromagnetic energy, it can travel like a particle (photon), even through empty space.

      To see it, though, you’d need to be in the vacuum, and that would be harder…

    • Photo: Peter Styring

      Peter Styring answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Only if you look directly into the source or it’s reflected off something. The only reason we can see the moon is because it reflects the light from the sun.

    • Photo: Rebecca Randell

      Rebecca Randell answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      A vacuum is a place where there is no air- there is no air in space and you can still see light so yes i think you would be able to see a light in a vacuum.

    • Photo: Sally Fenton

      Sally Fenton answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Light can travel through empty space..and since a vacuum is empty space I assume this is why we can still see it!

Comments