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bandti45 t1_j8ia88q wrote

Reply to comment by TruthOrFacts in Light traveling through a medium that slows it. Does the same photon emerge? by TheGandPTurtle

One thing to remember with photons is that while speed is consistent, intensity isn't.

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RailRuler t1_j8ixshe wrote

Intensity is a measurement of the number of photons arriving times the energy of each photo. The question is asking about a single photon, which is actually meaningful to speak of. Are you saying that the single photon's energy (wavelength/frequency) is changing?

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bandti45 t1_j8jc812 wrote

Well, the person I was replying to was talking about light in general, not a single photon. This is something I only have basic knowledge about.

Interactions with stuff does change it in one way or another. The way the sky is blue is light interacting with air, and tinted glass changes the light going through it. I don't know the mechanics, but that's a change in the photons without changing total speed.

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RailRuler t1_j9kjypo wrote

Those are both the medium filtering out certain colors of light, reducing its intensity. It doesn't change the photons.

The only thing that changes photons is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescence

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bandti45 t1_j9l737f wrote

I feel like I should have gotten this concept a while ago... thank you for informing me.

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