Since light is affected by gravity, it seems like it is made of massive particles. So what happens to that mass when the photon is absorbed by a material?
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A photon has 0 rest mass. Mass curves the space in which light travels through rather than the light being attracted by gravity so to speak. The kinetic energy of the photo is transferred to the electrons in the material.
Phizzy
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No. photons dont have mass. They have momentum which is equal to $E/c$. where $E$ is the energy of the photon. Photons dont need to have mass to be affected by gravity,Mass and energy curves spacetime and a photon simply follows geodesics in spacetime.
So what happens to that mass when the photon is absorbed by a material? A photon has momentum(without mass) and energy due to this momentum,this energy is absorbed by the electron.
– Paul Feb 02 '15 at 16:44