The Lorentz Force and the Radiation Pressure of Light

Abstract

In order to make plausible the idea that light exerts a pressure on matter, some introductory physics texts consider the force exerted by an electromagnetic wave on an electron. The argument as presented is both mathematically incorrect and has several serious conceptual difficulties without obvious resolution at the classical, yet alone introductory, level. We discuss these difficulties and propose an alternate demonstration.Comment: More or less as in AJ