The Lorentz Force and the Radiation Pressure of Light
Classical Physics
2009-11-13 v5 Physics Education
Abstract
In order to make plausible the idea that light exerts a pressure on matter, some introductory physics texts consider the force exerted by an electromagnetic wave on an electron. The argument as presented is both mathematically incorrect and has several serious conceptual difficulties without obvious resolution at the classical, yet alone introductory, level. We discuss these difficulties and propose an alternate demonstration.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0807.1310,
title = {The Lorentz Force and the Radiation Pressure of Light},
author = {Tony Rothman and Stephen Boughn},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0807.1310},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
More or less as in AJP