Theoretical way to levitate objects with light
As other commenters noted, the title is very misleading. The force exist but it is tiny, very very very tiny.<p>For radiation, force = power &#x2F; speed of light<p>You can add x2 if the radiation bounce against the surface like in a mirror. For the calculations, let&#x27;s pick a random value for power: 100W<p>* 100 W it&#x27;s all the power that used an old incandescent lamp, most of it was wasted as heat instead of visible light, and in many directions.<p>* A modern LED lamp for a room has about 10W, so 100W are like 10 LED lamps.<p>* And 100W is HUGE for a laser. And 5W is huge for a laser. (Class 3R is up to .005W and Class 3B is up to .5W.)<p>So if we divide the force by the acceleration of the gravity <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.wolframalpha.com&#x2F;input&#x2F;?i=2+*+100W+/+(speed+of+light)+/(gravity+aceleration)" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.wolframalpha.com&#x2F;input&#x2F;?i=2+*+100W+/+(speed+of...</a> we get 7E-8Kg = 70ug that according to wolfram alpha is approximately 1&#x2F;40 of a typical snowflake and 1&#x2F;20 of a typical mosquito.<p>Note that if you suddenly put 100W into a snowflake or a mosquito, they will be destroyed instantly, and you need x20 or x40 more power to make them float, and they will absorb most of the energy so you need x2 the power.<p>(The article is about manipulating the light&#x2F;material to stabilize the object, not to magically make the radiation force strong enough to levitate an elephant.)