Let’s see how much you’ve picked up with these experiments and the reading – answer as best as you can. (No peeking at the answers until you’re done!) Just relax and see what jumps to mind when you read the question. You can also print these out and jot down your answers in your science notebook.
Click here for a printer-friendly version of the Unit 9: Light & Lasers Exercises.
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Do you mean this answer?
“High-power CO2 lasers have an intense amount of heat that melts through metal. These aren’t the lasers we’re going to be working with! The lasers at the grocery store are Class I lasers, which will harm your eye if you stare into it without blinking once for at least 15 minutes. These ‘keychain’ lasers are Class II & III, some of which can overpower your retina in less than a minute, and the damage is irreversible…”
It has to do with how the actual lasers work. Laser beams are very concentrated forms of light, which is energy (everything in the universe is either matter or energy). Lasers like CO2 lasers have their wavelength (color) near the IR end of the spectrum, but with a lot of energy packed in… so much that they can melt through metal. If you’re interested, I can post our favorite laser books that go into detail on how and why they work. Does that help?
Question 6 asks “how do lasers damage things?”. I understand the answer, but couldn’t find the “how” in the materials. Is there someplace I missed in looking for the answer (other than looking at the actual answer)?