Gravitation shows that photons have mass

The Forces of Nature by Kelland Terry, Ph.D.

Physicists have shown that celestial bodies cause photons to curve. This is referred to as gravitational lensing. According to the universal law of gravitation this is only possible if the photon has mass while in flight. The equation that supports this conclusion was worked out by Newton:



G is a constant that converts the raw data to a force in Newtons. Notice that the photon must have mass to make this work. Till then be safe and in good health. Kelland—www.vestheory.com

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

Photons have momentum and therefore mass

As mentioned, the momentum of a moving train or a tiny photon particle whizzing along at the speed of light are both calculated the same way: momentum = mass x velocity. One might conclude this: If photons have momentum, they must have mass just like a moving train has mass.

The theoretical momentum of photons with different energies and frequencies can be calculated, and these calculated values can be compared to values determined by experimentation. As explained in previous blogs:

The momentum of photons with different oscillation frequencies has been measured with the use of a torsion balance experiment. In this experiment, photons with a known frequency are directed against mirrors suspended by a tiny wire thread.

Bombarding the mirrors with photons causes the mirrors to move away from the photon beam. This causes the wire to twist as the mirrors rotate in a circle. The amount the wire is twisted is used to calculate the momentum of the photons directed against the mirrors. It was found that the momentum of the photons calculated using the twist on the wire in the torsion balance experiment was exactly the same as the momentum calculated using their theoretical mass and velocity.

Not only can you calculate the mass of a moving photon, but you can prove experimentally that the calculated mass is correct using a torsion balance experiment.

The only logical conclusion is that photons have mass at the time they strike the mirror. How else is it possible for photons to apply a force against the mirrors? I have no idea how scientists who believe in the special theory of relativity can explain this experiment and many other experiments that demonstrate unequivocally that photons have momentum, as well as other characteristics that show a photon in flight has mass.

This is such an important topic that I will continue with it in the next blog or two. Till then be safe and in good health. Kelland—www.vestheory.com

Light from our Sun comes from preexisting mass

The Forces of Nature by Kelland Terry, Ph.D.
The light we receive here on Earth from our Sun is created when hydrogen is converted to helium by fusion. In this process some of the mass of the hydrogen ion becomes positrons and electrons. These two particles with the same mass immediately combine and become two gamma photons with the same mass and energy. Free gamma photons are created in other reactions as well. Gamma photons eventually find their way to Earth in the form of visible light photons and other photons of different mass and energy.

The point I am attempting to make is that the light we receive from our Sun comes from preexisting mass. Kelland—www.vestheory.com

Max Planck’s constant

The Forces of Nature by Kelland Terry, Ph.D.

I have already introduced the idea that the oscillation frequency of a gamma ray photon is much greater than a small radio wave photon. Oscillation frequency is directly related to the energy of the photon. What we are really saying is that the rate a photon goes through its string cycles is directly related to the photon’s mass and energy.

In 1900, Max Planck compared oscillation frequency and the energy of light, and from this he was able to show that the energy of a photon can be calculated using its frequency: E = hf, which applies to all photons. The letter h in this equation is Planck’s constant and f is the frequency of oscillation. Planck’s constant has a value of 6.626 x 10^-34 joule seconds. Thus, the energy in joules for a radio wave with a frequency of 1 x 10^4 is 6.626 x 10^-30 joules. The energy of a photon of visible light with a frequency of 1 x 10^15 is 6.626 x 10^-19 joules.

Planck came to this conclusion: The total energy of a given source of light is equal to nfh, where n is the number of photons emitted, f is the frequency of the photons, and h is Planck’s constant. This was an important contribution by Planck because it clearly stated that light was composed of discrete particles whose frequency and number dictated the total energy of the light emitted.

We still have Einstein and the special theory of relativity to be concerned with but we’ll get there eventually. Till then be safe and in good health. Kelland—www.vestheory.com

Photons have momentum

The Forces of Nature by Kelland Terry, Ph.D.

Merry Christmas

If photons are particles, it seems only natural that they have mass, and since they move with great velocity through space, it is only natural that they have momentum because momentum = mass x velocity. This equation can be used to calculate the momentum of a moving train or a photon whizzing along at the speed of light.

In the 1870s, James Clerk Maxwell, a Scottish physicist, carried out some famous experiments that resulted in his ability to calculate the velocity of light, and it enabled him to derive some fundamental equations that characterize the energy and momentum of light. He gave us this equation: momentum = E/c
Where E is the energy of light and c is its velocity. Obviously Maxwell thought that photons were discrete particles with mass.

Notice, that Maxwell’s equation for momentum can be rearranged to give us the more famous equation: E = mass c2. Just substitute momentum with mass x velocity.

In other words, Einstein did not derive this equation. However, he was forced to reinvent its meaning in 1905 because it did not fit his special theory of relativity. According to his theory, nothing with mass can travel at the speed of light. For this reason, he proposed that a photon in flight has no mass. In addition he theorized that mass can be converted to energy. This is a subject we will spend a great deal of time on in future blogs so don’t worry too much about it now.

The exact relationship between oscillation frequency and the energy of a photon was determined by Max Planck, which is the subject of the next blog. Kelland—www.vestheory.com

All Photons create the same number of elastic strings

The Forces of Nature by Kelland Terry, Ph.D.

Thus far we have seen that photons are particles and the energy of the particle determines whether we call it a radio wave, microwave, visible light, ultraviolet light, x-ray or gamma ray. In fact there is a continuous array of photons of different energy from radio waves to gamma rays. A gamma ray photon can be as energetic and massive as an electron, while at the other end, the lowest energy radio waves may be smaller by as much as 10,000,000,000,000,000.

Photons with low energy take longer to go through one oscillation cycle than photons with high energy; however, low energy photons and high energy photons are all similar. They all create the same electric fields, magnetic fields, and gravitational fields, and for this reason have oscillation cycles. In addition, the magnitude of the fields at their apex is the same for all photons regardless of their energy levels. It just takes longer for a low energy photon to create and retract the same number of elastic strings. Kelland—www.vestheory.com