Resumo

FIGUEROA, C. M.  e  SARACHO, S.. THE INERTIA OF LIGHT. VERIFICATION OF NEWTON’S SECOND LAW BY A CONFINED FLOW OF RADIATIONIN A REFLECTIVE CAVITY. An. AFA [online]. 2023, vol.34, n.3, pp.1-1. ISSN 0327-358X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.31527/anaiesafa.2023.34.3.51.

In 1904, the Austrian physicist Fritz Hasenohrl examined by means of mental experiments the black body radiation in a reflecting cavity. By calculating the work required to keep the cavity moving at constant velocity in opposition to the radiation pressure, he calculated for the radiation energy a value equivalent to E = mc2, relation corrected in 1905 to E = 3mc2. This relation establishes an equivalence between mass m and radiation energy E and was finally corrected to the present known form E = mc2 by Einstein. The conclusion from these deductions is that light has mass and inertia. Based on a thought experiment inspired by Hasenohrl’s, in which we accelerate a reflecting cavity containing an internal radiation flux, we conclude that, under certain conditions of motion, light verifies Newton’s 2nd Law of Inertia.

Palavras-chave : inertial mass; reflecting cavity; photon; Doppler Effect; wave frequency; Hasenohrl.

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