For convenience sake let’s say you have 2 identical lasers, one is blue and one is red. And you shine it on lead (so none of the light leaks through) until the lead doesn’t heat up anymore. Would the temperature change at all between the different color lasers. It doesn’t have to be red or blue, it could be microwave or x ray, just different colors is nessisary.
Technically those wouldn’t be LASER (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.) but MASER or XASER.
I’m probably the only asshole left that cares about this though.
So where do you stand on infrared lasers? Light is already a junk term for the EM spectrum that we can see, otherwise holding no specific importance.
Oh I have a question! Do all frequencies on the EM spectrum emit photons? Like, when gamma rays or X rays or microwaves hit something are photons bouncing off/being absorbed and we just can’t see them?
All EM waves are photons.
When X or gamma ray photons interact with matter, e.g. by Compton scattering, i.e. hitting electrons of an atom. Thereby the photons loose discrete amounts of energy, leading to an increase of their wavelengths, and the electrons are then lifted on corresponding higher energy levels. When the electrons ‘fall’ back onto their base levels, additional photons are emitted.
Microwave photons, however, have to low energy for this kind of interaction. They e.g. induce vibrations and oscillations of molecules which is perceived as a temperature increase.
Ooh neat! Thank you, very well described for a layman such as myself
You’re welcome.
Anyway, a maser or a xaser would create completely different responses on the material. There’s a good reason we use different names.
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You’re telling me only visible light counts as light to lasers?
Yes, light is usually defined as the part of the EM spectrum the (human) eye is capable of perceiving..
explains all the CO2 infrared lasers out there.
The EM waves of near spectra, UV and IR, are commonly often referred to as ‘light’ as well. Wikipedia even states:
Which fits to my perception of physicists, where in astronomy every element starting at Lithium is referred to as ‘metal’.
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