Photon

The photon is an elementary particle that carries the electromagnetic force. Photons can be mined from photon fields. They appear as items in Elementary Craft. Photons ensure that objects with an electric charge, attract or repel each other. Therefore, they are necessary when crafting atoms. For example, they appear in the recipe for a hydrogen atom:

Hydrogen: 1 proton + 1 electron + 1 photon

Electrons, which have an electric charge of -1, and protons, which have an electric charge of +1, attract each other through the exchange of photons. Photons cause the electron to stick to the proton. By this principle, atoms are formed!

When some particle and its anti-particle run into each other, they annihilate and convert into two photons. This process is implemented in Elementary Craft: try it out for yourself with an electron and a positron!

Dive deeper into the Physics: photons
You might know photons as little packages of light. This is correct. Light consists of photons. But a special kind of photons, which we call real photons. Real photons respect the laws of physics.

However, there is a second type of photons that we call virtual photons. Virtual photons can take a run with the laws of physics, and are a bit like naughty children. Virtual photons can do things that are not allowed, as long as they are not caught! When we check up on the photons, by observing them, they act as if they were behaving all along...

The virtual photons are the messenger particles of the electromagnetic force. The virtual photons transfer the electromagnetic force between particles that have an electric charge. Picture it like this: the charged particles throw photons back and forth, as if the photons were little balls. By playing this game, the charged particles experience a force that makes them repel from one another or makes them attract to one another.