I would be especially interested in speeds larger than c 🙂
Comment on I can whistle at the speed of sound
Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee 3 months agoI mean, any other non-c speed really.
Xavienth@lemmygrad.ml 3 months ago
Well that’s pretty easy, just fire it anywhere except a vacuum.
PythagreousTitties@lemm.ee 3 months ago
But I never use my vacuum. Might as well fire a laser at it!
dev_null@lemmy.ml 3 months ago
It’s still travelling at c, it’s just bouncing around the medium’s particles on the way. It arrives later because it’s not going in a straight line.
qjkxbmwvz@startrek.website 3 months ago
I don’t think that’s a great way of thinking about it. I think you’re describing something more like scattering — or maybe absorption and stimulated or spontaneous emission — which does indeed happen, but is distinct from the index of a medium.
If it were indeed “bouncing,” optics wouldn’t really work, as any n > 0 medium would cause the light to go every which way.
SirSmokeAlot@lemmy.ml 3 months ago
If you fire a laser that goes first through vacuum, then through a lens, then again in vacuum, at what speed is the light travelling on the other side?
Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee 3 months ago
Yes, ofc - but we’re talking about a weapon here, the air is implied as a medium, and the very-near-c with it.
But a weapon that would construct some sort of structure or a tunnel between it’s position and the target would be something else indeed.
Glowstick@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Actually, c is the speed of light in a vacuum, but light travels slower through a medium, like air. So lasers shot through air will actually travel slower than c.
Bassman1805@lemmy.world 3 months ago
(For anyone curious, the speed of light in earth air is like 99.97% as fast as in vacuum)
jaybone@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Bunch of nerds in this thread.
Vilian@lemmy.ca 3 months ago
You’re in science_memes what did you expected?
ASeriesOfPoorChoices@lemmy.world 3 months ago
exactly where they should be.
LilDumpy@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Ya, but that’s JUST slow enough to be able to see it.
DannyBoy@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
Maybe it’s going to be space lasers.
5oap10116@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Do you know what the religious affiliation of these space lasers will be?
dohpaz42@lemmy.world 3 months ago
You have a lot of chutzpah to ask such a question. Oy! What would your mother say?
shasta@lemm.ee 3 months ago
Flying Spaghetti Monster
marcos@lemmy.world 3 months ago
A laser strong enough to be used as a weapon will probably not leave a lot of medium on its path.
But the front-most part will still travel at less than c. It will just speed-up after a while.
sinkingship@mander.xyz 3 months ago
I’m curious. What happens to the medium? Does it simply get pushed aside? Or pushed along? Or will it eat up some energy and react to something else?
Tlaloc_Temporal@lemmy.ca 3 months ago
Much like lightning, a powerful enough laser will ionize the air. That ionized air is hot and rises, just like the ionized gasses from combustion.
A powerful laser will look like a beam of fire.