Light pressure (Lebedev)
Presión de la luz (Lebedev)
- Date
- 1899-1901 · confidence high
- Place
- Moscow, Russia
- Credited to
- Pyotr Lebedev
- Field
- Communication
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
At Moscow University Lebedev measures the tiny force that light exerts on thin vanes in an evacuated vessel, confirming the value predicted by Maxwell's theory. It is the first precise measurement of radiation pressure.
Nichols and Hull measured light pressure independently at Dartmouth (1901); Maxwell (1873) and Bartoli (1876) had predicted it, and Lebedev proved its value with a more precise set-up. Priority is shared.
What it led to
- solar sails and radiation pressure in astrophysics
- optical tweezers and atom trapping with light
- experimental support for the electromagnetic theory of light