Many things exist that have no molecules.
Here is the simplest: helium gas. Helium is a noble gas, which means that it does not form compounds. OK, that’s not exactly true. Under very high pressure, it is known to form some compounds, but these are not stable at sea level pressure. At sea level, helium atoms live all by themselves, not even forming diatomic molecules like hydrogen, nitrogen or oxygen. So when you fill your party balloon with helium gas, you are filling it with a monatomic gas: no molecules involved.
Beyond that… just about anything that involves energies greater than chemical binding energies involves no molecules whatsoever. Chemical binding energies hold atoms together in a molecule. A typical chemical binding energy is a few electron volts. (One eV is the energy an electron gains while traveling through a potential difference of 1 volt. But never mind the formal definition, it’s how things compare that matters.) In contrast, atomic energy usually involves reactions that are measured in thousands or even millions of electron volts. At those energy levels, chemical bindings might as well not be there.
And then there are things that never form molecules in the first place, things not made of atoms. Light is one example. The electron beam in the cathode ray tube of an old fashioned TV or monitor is another. Or neutrinos streaming from a nuclear reactor or from the interior of the Sun.
And all these things carry energy. Lots of energy, usually. Energy comes in two forms: the energy of motion (kinetic energy) and the energy of binding (potential energy). These can be converted into each other in physical processes. The energy that binds atoms in a molecule together is an example of potential energy, but so is the energy that binds subatomic particles together deep inside an atom. And anything that moves carries kinetic energy, whether or not it is a molecule. So no, being a molecule has nothing to do with having energy. Energy is a much more fundamental concept that applies to everything, not just the very special case of atoms chemically bound together in a molecule.
The first "molecules" made from two photons have been created by physicists in the US. Their experiment involves firing pairs of photons through an ultracold atomic gas, where an attractive interaction causes the photons to stick together and become quantum-mechanically entangled. The breakthrough could allow both conventional and quantum computers to encode and process information using photons.
Getting photons to stick together is not easy because they normally pass through each other without interacting. However, a photon has an associated electromagnetic field that can modify its surrounding medium. These changes can affect nearby photons and create an effective interaction between them. Although this effect is usually tiny, the interactions can be significant if the medium is chosen carefully.
Yes. Light has no molecules.
Light is electromagnetic interaction between charged particles.
The particles in atoms, the electrons and the protons exchange photons all the time. It is what holds the atom together. The light you are experiencing is a very small piece of all “light” emited by the atom and its particles.
Molecules are a group of atoms held together by interaction between the atoms. Again these interactions inside the molecule are all electromagnetic. Meaning they exchange “light” with eachother.
From time to time the electrons inside the atoms and molecules change their state. During this change they either absorb or emit photons outside the molecule. These photons that leave the atom are what you see as light.
The answer is, in a way, that a photon, the “particle” of light cannot “be”. We only know where a photon “is” at two points: when it is emitted and when it is absorbed. We can draw lines showing the path it took. We can absorb other photons that follow the same path, and say we know where those photons were when we detected them. But unlike the things which you call molecules (and the things smaller than molecules, like atoms, protons and electrons), we can never see the same one twice. A photon has no substance - it is a pure ripple in the electromagnetic field. And it cannot be subdivided: either you absorb a photon, in which case you destroy it as you detect it, or you do not, in which case you do not know it passed.
Molecules are not the smallest things. Molecules are made of atoms. and atoms are made of protons, neutrons and electrons. And, though they are very hard to detect, protons and neutrons are made of quarks.
Hi there,
Before trying to explain I have to advise you that I am only 17 years old and that I have no Phd whatsoever. Therefore all the statements I am about to make are from my lessons and may be wrongly explained.
First of all , what we call light is a visible electromagnetic radiation . Meaning that light is the apparent form of a transfer of energy inside a system. For example the Sun which by a thermonuclear process emits lights since billions of years , the same for your lightbulbs with electricity that heats up the resistance leading to radiations that we call light. Thus everything that produces energy is emitting radiations and is called primary source and those which are reflecting those radiations are secondary sources .Ourselves and every matter that we can see are not emitting light but reflecting it so we are secondary sources.
Secondly , now that we know that light is energy , we may also explain why light is not a molecule. Well that’s because light is a particule! Indeed light consists in one particule which is called the photon. It is actually the particule that is formed when a reaction between two elements occurs. For instance our Sun while processing a neverending thermonuclear reaction is creating others molecules however during the process of transforming new molecules , particules are as well being created, those particules result in radiations and some of them are visible and while some are not. -Depends on the wavelength of the particule-
So in the end light is a particule and not a molecule that is the result of reactions of well : molecules. Thus it cannot exist as a molecule as it is energy. There is no atom called “energy” in our periodic table and also no molecule that forms energy. As mass is different than energy.
So please be forgiving I might be wrong but is really hard to explain things in English as I am French.
Yes , it is TRUE .
Light is a form of energy ( has no mass ) just momentum
Molecules are made up of atoms , atom are REAL SOLID matter
Light is energy ( has no mass )
Light does not have a shape , just a wave length ( color )
Molecules are Matter (has Mass )
That’s the simplest description I can give , based on the Question .
Light has wavelike particles
Wavelike Behaviors of Light <- good reading material for wave behaviour
How do we know that light is a wave? <- more good reading material
Now, it also behaves like a particle
Light as a particle <- good reading material
Pilot waves are gaining popularity in experimental physics, here is a video explaining them.
Pilot Wave Theory Video Will Make You Totally Rethink Quantum Mechanics | Nerdist
Yes, Light has no molecules in itself. Molecules themselves might contain energy but do not make up energy. Molecules are the blocks that make up matter and not energy. the interaction of these molecules leads to energy. There was a hypothesis that light is transmitted by packets known as photons, we now know that photons exist like packets but behave in a wavelike form.
Hmmm, I remember the ideas I had as young kid. It took some time to sort out the different terms and facts.
To start, there are things like atoms. Those are the tiniest part with some characteristic. Like gold, argon, iron, carbon.
Most atoms like to react with other atoms. Sometimes similar, like O2 which is Oxygen gas, or with different like NaCl which is Natrium and Chloride. We call that molecules. That is because while they have some particular characteristics they can be split using chemistry.
Just in case you ask, in chemistry we name things based on what atoms make up the molecule. Like Alcohol, that is 5 Hydrogen atoms connected to two Carbon atoms and one Oxygen that is connected to an H atom. so C2H5OH
Some chemical reactions go very easy, so called endothermic. As in burning. Chemical that really is a reaction where something like Methane CH4 with O2. It produces a lot of C2O and a bit of water H2O. And a lot of energy. So how does this energy get away? It does so by radiating in different frequencies. And those are called photons. Slow frequencies are in the infra red .. like heat. Which can be noticed on our skin. And there is a bit of higher frequencies that can be noticed by our eye: visible light.
So short version. Light is not a molecule, it is the interaction of energy between stuff.
Stay curious !
True.
Molecules are 1 or more atoms joined in a stable relationship. Atoms are collections of fundamental-ish particles (neutrons/protons in a nucleus, also called hadrons) and a cloud of electrons (leptons). All hadrons are in turn composed of collections of gluons and quarks. Leptons appear fundamental and are not composed of anything simpler. All hadrons/leptons travel less than the speed of light, and carry some mass in various amounts.
Light is a collection of photons (essentially 0 rest mass particles that cannot travel less than the speed of light). Light has no shape.
E=mc2 says that light cannot have molecules, because then it could not travel at the speed of light.
But there could be a lot more to light than presently realised.
We have assumed for years that electromagnetic radiation does not require a medium, whereas conduction and convection do.
Many still believe that light would not get far unless it was carried on some form of medium. This means that many stars would be invisible. And it could mean that our own star, the sun, would be useless as a form of energy that drives our planet. And we would be dead.
Yes it's true that light has no molecule. It is made up of photon which is a particle! :-)
