Photons are particles with mass

The Forces of Nature by Kelland Terry, Ph.D.
In addition to the torsion balance experiments, there are a number of other experiments that clearly illustrate that photons in flight are particles that have momentum. I will briefly summarize some of them here.

• The photoelectric effect. Photons striking a metal plate or wire cause the electrons in the wire to move, which sets up an electric current. It seems obvious that this is only possible if the photons pass some of their momentum to the electrons in the wire. In 1905, Albert Einstein concluded this was only possible if the photons were composed of particles.
• Compton Effect. This effect occurs when photons collide with electrons. Compton believed the results of his study could best be explained if the photons “experienced billiard-ball-like collisions with the free electrons in the scattering block.” This means the photons must be particles with mass.
• Casimir Effect. If metal mirrors are placed close together in a vacuum, only those photons in resonance remain between the two plates. Because there are fewer photons between the plates, it allows those on the outside to dominate as they collide with the plates. The plates are pushed together. The only way photons can push the plates together is if they are particles with mass.
• Photons have spin angular momentum. This was proven by R. Beth in 1936. The only way this is possible is if the photon is a particle with mass that is spinning on its axis.
• Diffraction experiments. Photons are deflected when they pass by an object. Elastic string theory explains this as follows: Elastic strings are ejected from photons at a 90 degree angle to the flight path of the photon. As explained in my book, when elastic strings strike a thin wall, it causes the photon to swing around this pivot point, which changes the photon’s direction slightly.


The flight direction of a radio wave photon is affected more by a wall than a visible light photon because the momentum of the visible light photon is some 100,000,000,000 greater. The visible light photon will tend to continue on in a straight line more than the radio wave photon. This by the way completely explains all slit experiments. Notice to make this work, the elastic strings must have physical properties and the photons must have momentum and therefore mass. Till then be safe and in good health. Kelland—www.vestheory.com