A free electron is placed in the path of a plane electromagnetic wave. The electron will start moving
Explanation: A particle placed in and electromagnetic wave moving
with velocity v experiences a force called Lorentz’s force due to the
electric and magnetic fields. The force is given as
where q is the charge of the particle, E is the electric field, v is the
velocity of the particle and B is the magnetic field.
An electron at rest is placed in the path of a plane electromagnetic wave. The Lorentz force acting on the electron will be
where e is the charge of the electron. As the electron is at rest so the velocity will be 0. The net Lorentz’s force will be
The electron will move in the direction of the field.