Question

Why don’t we feel the momentum of sunlight when we are on the beach?

a) The momentum of sunlight is too small.

b) The Earth's gravity cancels out the sunlight's momentum.

c) Light has no momentum.

d) We do feel the momentum; it's negligible.

Answer 1

We don't feel the momentum of sunlight on the beach because each photon's momentum is very small, making the impact negligible and imperceptible.

Step-by-step explanation:

The reason we don’t feel the momentum of sunlight when we are on the beach is that the momentum carried by individual photons is extremely small. Even though sunlight carries momentum and exerts pressure upon absorption, this pressure is extremely weak because the momentum of a singular photon is negligible when compared to the momentum associated with macroscopic objects. Therefore, when photons strike us, the resulting pressure is too tiny to be felt. The correct answer to the question is: a) The momentum of sunlight is too small.