Physics laws for light only apply to light in a vacuum. So is light affected by friction? Light is energy right, not matter?
Given that light-speed is constant, then no. HOWEVER......as light passes thru various media is slows to a speed given by v = c/n. v is the velocity, c is the speed of light in a vacuum, and n is the index of refraction of the media. In essence this retardation could be thought of as a friction, but mechanically speaking it is not. Friction is the physical contact of one object with another where material is exchanged or removed causing heat to be generated as a by-product of the interaction of the bodies. Light interacts with media but thru the electromagnetic field. This isn't necessarily a 'physical' contact, but energy is exchanged and the speed does change, so this is similar to friction and as close to such a thing as you can get for light. Hope this helps.
light is only energy and not matter. it is used in a vacume because light is affected by matter is the air, microscopic particles would enterfere with the light and manipulate its travel.
Interesting question. Light behaves a bit like both matter and energy. Not only is it slowed down by media, its refraction displays that various wavelengths are slowed down by different amounts. We could think of that as something akin to friction.
No. Light can be distorted by matter, ie: refracted through water or the atmosphere, but this is not friction. Theres no way to actually slow light down at a given wavelength. In fact one of the most puzzling aspects of physics is that light is ALWAYS travelling at the speed of light faster than you regardless of your speed. So even if you are travelling at half the speed of light in the same direction as a light beam, it is still travelling at the full speed of light relative to you.
All these answers assume that lights energy is only related to it's speed, Yes the speed of light in a vacuum is a constant, but it's energy is also affected by its frequency or wavelength. We know that this can be affected by a few thing such as gravitational fields as well as the Doppler effect, but do two beams of light trailing in opposite directions have an effect on each other? Can this cause a red shift, a drop in wavelength, a drop in frequency? If it does in any degree then light in a vacuum is affected by friction. As far as I know this has never been tested.
