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[quote=Scyfon]I have a physics question:
Assuming that it's strong enough and there are no obstructions, is it possible for a ray of light pointed parallel to the ground to circle the globe and reach its point of origination or would it travel straight out into space?

The thing about light is that it sometimes acts like particles and sometimes like a wave. If I recall correctly, light is made up out of photons, which are quintessentially little packages of light energy that move like a wave but display properties of particles. Because the light energy is concentrated in clusters it can behave like a particle, but because it solely consists of energy it has no matter; therefore, it is not subjugated to the force of gravity. Since light also behaves like a wave, and waves always fluctuate around a straight axis, light always travels in a straight line.
So, the answer to your question would be that it is not possible for a ray of light to be parallel to the ground and circle the globe 🙂 .

yah those were some more or less accurate statements^^ but the bottom line is still correct, for the earth the light (you can imagine a laser beam) would go straight into space.
the big mistake in the above expl. howerver is that just because its energy, doesnt mean it doesnt have a mass (as long as the photon moves but thats a lil too difficult right now)..anyways the point here is E=mc^2....
and light interacts with gravity.thats the whole point of a black hole...so much gravity that light cant escape.
of the top of my head i,d say theoretically if your planet is massive enough you can realize a circle around it, you should even be able to calculate the exact mass, in relation to radius that it needs...

Photons have zero mass and rest energy; that's what we were taught, and it also says so here: [url]http://physics.about.com/od/lightoptics/f/photon.htm[/url].
I'm not an expert on quantum physics, but I remember my teacher saying that according to E=mc² teleportation should be possible.
About black holes...they are capable of distorting space and I won't deny that they can even trap light; I think it has something to do with Relativity theory 🙄 .[/quote]
exactly, rest energy 😉 .. but usally light doesnt rest..thats what i meant when i said too difficult to explain.
and the whole concept of light interacting with gravity is a very fundamental statement of the general theory of relativity
also im actually an idiot XD ...cause what i described about the light going in a circle around the earth is practically a black hole so yes, you can calculate that if the earth had the same mass it has right now, and a radius of 9 mm !! it would go in a circle around the earth. as a comparison, right now the radius is about 6300 km which is 6 300 000 000 mm .... so the line is pretty straight 😉

Quote from WandereroftheDeep

Quote from Pocono

Quote from WandereroftheDeep

[quote=Scyfon]I have a physics question:
Assuming that it's strong enough and there are no obstructions, is it possible for a ray of light pointed parallel to the ground to circle the globe and reach its point of origination or would it travel straight out into space?

The thing about light is that it sometimes acts like particles and sometimes like a wave. If I recall correctly, light is made up out of photons, which are quintessentially little packages of light energy that move like a wave but display properties of particles. Because the light energy is concentrated in clusters it can behave like a particle, but because it solely consists of energy it has no matter; therefore, it is not subjugated to the force of gravity. Since light also behaves like a wave, and waves always fluctuate around a straight axis, light always travels in a straight line.
So, the answer to your question would be that it is not possible for a ray of light to be parallel to the ground and circle the globe 🙂 .

yah those were some more or less accurate statements^^ but the bottom line is still correct, for the earth the light (you can imagine a laser beam) would go straight into space.
the big mistake in the above expl. howerver is that just because its energy, doesnt mean it doesnt have a mass (as long as the photon moves but thats a lil too difficult right now)..anyways the point here is E=mc^2....
and light interacts with gravity.thats the whole point of a black hole...so much gravity that light cant escape.
of the top of my head i,d say theoretically if your planet is massive enough you can realize a circle around it, you should even be able to calculate the exact mass, in relation to radius that it needs...

Photons have zero mass and rest energy; that's what we were taught, and it also says so here: [url]http://physics.about.com/od/lightoptics/f/photon.htm[/url].
I'm not an expert on quantum physics, but I remember my teacher saying that according to E=mc² teleportation should be possible.
About black holes...they are capable of distorting space and I won't deny that they can even trap light; I think it has something to do with Relativity theory 🙄 .[/quote]

A somewhat relevant video

There are times when you will miss what you never had. I wonder how you will find what you so desperately need.

Quote from Pocono

exactly, rest energy 😉 .. but usally light doesnt rest..thats what i meant when i said too difficult to explain.
and the whole concept of light interacting with gravity is a very fundamental statement of the general theory of relativity
also im actually an idiot XD ...cause what i described about the light going in a circle around the earth is practically a black hole so yes, you can calculate that if the earth had the same mass it has right now, and a radius of 9 mm !! it would go in a circle around the earth. as a comparison, right now the radius is about 6300 km which is 6 300 000 000 mm .... so the line is pretty straight 😉

Black holes are said to have infinite density; so, is it really possible to determine that if the earth became a black hole, which is probably impossible, would have a radius of 9mm?
And then there's the matter of "dark matter" they still haven't got figured out yet 😛

[img]http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x392/WandereroftheDeep/higurashiimage1-1.jpg[/img]

Quote from WandereroftheDeep

Black holes are said to have infinite density; so, is it really possible to determine that if the earth became a black hole, which is probably impossible, would have a radius of 9mm?

I've always thought that black holes were just tiny unmeasurable points...

Quote from Hanae

Quote from WandereroftheDeep

Black holes are said to have infinite density; so, is it really possible to determine that if the earth became a black hole, which is probably impossible, would have a radius of 9mm?

I've always thought that black holes were just tiny unmeasurable points...

Black holes are quintessentially imploded stars that condense their matter into a very small volume of infinite density, which is so heavy it destorts the time-space continuum and sucks in other matter.

[img]http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x392/WandereroftheDeep/higurashiimage1-1.jpg[/img]

Quote from WandereroftheDeep

Quote from Hanae

Quote from WandereroftheDeep

Black holes are said to have infinite density; so, is it really possible to determine that if the earth became a black hole, which is probably impossible, would have a radius of 9mm?

I've always thought that black holes were just tiny unmeasurable points...

Black holes are quintessentially imploded stars that condense their matter into a very small volume of infinite density, which is so heavy it destorts the time-space continuum and sucks in other matter.

So they are points in space which are so tiny that we can't measure them, but we know they exist because they suck in basically all stuff in space because they are so extremely heavy...?

Quote from Hanae

Quote from WandereroftheDeep

Quote from Hanae

[quote=WandereroftheDeep]Black holes are said to have infinite density; so, is it really possible to determine that if the earth became a black hole, which is probably impossible, would have a radius of 9mm?

I've always thought that black holes were just tiny unmeasurable points...

Black holes are quintessentially imploded stars that condense their matter into a very small volume of infinite density, which is so heavy it destorts the time-space continuum and sucks in other matter.

So they are points in space which are so tiny that we can't measure them, but we know they exist because they suck in basically all stuff in space because they are so extremely heavy...?[/quote]

You need to picture a black hole as a super massive speck of matter stretching the space-time continuum like a marble stretches a elastic sheet.
You can read more about black holes here [url]http://cosmology.berkeley.edu/Education/BHfaq.html[/url].

[img]http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x392/WandereroftheDeep/higurashiimage1-1.jpg[/img]

Thanks for the link, I'm really interested in these things 🙂

what makes physics interesting??

Quote from Binturong

what makes physics interesting??

Too many things to count, most of them too abstract to explain, and nothing that would interest you if you don't love it already.

Which version of The Elements of Style, authored by William Strunk Jr. and a varying - and confusing - list authors would you recommend, and why?

There are times when you will miss what you never had. I wonder how you will find what you so desperately need.

Quote from Casey D. Geek

Quote from Binturong

what makes physics interesting??

Too many things to count, most of them too abstract to explain, and nothing that would interest you if you don't love it already.

Which version of The Elements of Style, authored by William Strunk Jr. and a varying - and confusing - list authors would you recommend, and why?

None, if you don't understand style already, there is no hope for you.

Quote from Binturong

what makes physics interesting??

Understanding how the world works, what makes it the way it is. Finding the deep connections that link every aspect of reality in a beautiful and symmetric way. Seeing how a few simple laws can produce a myriad of complex and remarkable phenomena. The excitement of discovering a truly new facet of the universe that no-one has even imagined, and the satisfaction of realising a new idea explains something previously inexplicable.

How's that for a couple of the reasons to find it interesting?

im still not convinced.

Quote from Binturong

what makes physics interesting??

The pretty girl that sits next to you in class.

Quote from Sagaris

Quote from Binturong

what makes physics interesting??

The pretty girl that sits next to you in class.

🤣
I hope I was that lucky 🙂

@Binturong - I'm not sure you know what you're referring to. The book is not about 'style' as in fashion per se. It's a prescriptive American English writing style guide, to quote Wikipedia, with many editions.

There are times when you will miss what you never had. I wonder how you will find what you so desperately need.