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Forgive me if this is a stupid question, but I'm completely new to lasers.?
You know how in movies you always see that laser device that has, like, four different beams pointed down at an angle, then they all hit one singular point and somehow go straight forward into a single powerful beam? Is that in any way possible? Because it seems like it really shouldn't be, but... y'know.
Oh, also, _simple_ words. As I said, I'm _completely_ new to lasers, and thus... kind of a moron. Please proceed as such.
4 Answers
- ?Lv 58 years ago
Sounds like the first Star Wars movie. This is the same movie where they're in a cave on an asteroid, and they get out of the spaceship wearing nothing but an oxygen mask. Try doing that in space and see how far you get. Small asteroids don't have an atmosphere.
- Anonymous8 years ago
Not without some kind of mirror or prism arrangement. Also, in real life you can't see a laser beam unless there are tiny particles, like dust, smoke or water droplets in the air. You certainly can't see one in the vacuum of space. That, however, is too boring for movie-makers.
- ?Lv 58 years ago
Photons do not interact with each to change direction.
To continue as a single beam there have to be a devise that confines the beams. Like fiber.
- CwCcLv 78 years ago
To add a little more detail, as the light waves pass the point, they may interfere with each other, but only at that point, after which they continue as if nothing happened. This is called the superposition principle of waves. There's a nifty animation at this link:
