In special relativity, a photon can be thought of as having a E- c2 sgthwar hn thatpasss ner th .

concept of modern physic biser 6 edition chapter 4 problem 47 solution.In special relativity, a photon can be thought of as having a

“mass” of m E-

c

2

. This suggests that we can treat a photon

that passes near the sun in the same way as Rutherford treated

an alpha particle that passes near a nucleus, with an attractive

gravitational force replacing the repulsive electrical force. Adapt

Eq. (4.29) to this situation and find the angle of deflection -

for

a photon that passes b Rsun from the center of the sun. The

mass and radius of the sun are respectively 2.0 1030 kg and

7.0 108 m. In fact, general relativity shows that this result is

exactly half the actual deflection, a conclusion supported by ob-

servations made during solar eclipses as mentioned in Sec. 1.10.