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Light & Lasers
In 1917, Einstein figured out the basic principles for the LASER and MASER by building on Max Planck’s work on light. It wasn’t until 1960, though when the first laser actually emitted light at Hughes Research Lab.
We're going to explore the world of light by doing several experiments and labs using flashlights, lasers and optics. The videos below are recordings from the live science camp class sessions, I hope you enjoy them!
More in-depth intro videos for Light & Lasers:
Last year, I taught science camp three days each week, so here are the recordings from those weeks of camp.
Today, there are several different kinds of lasers, including gas lasers, chemical lasers, semiconductor lasers, and solid state lasers. Gas lasers pump different types of gases to get different laser colors such as the red HeNe (Helium-Neon laser), the high-powered CO2 lasers that they can melt through metal, the blue-green argon-ion, the UV lasers that use nitrogen, and the metallic-gas combination such as He-Ag lasers (helium and silver) and Ne-Cu (neon and copper) which emit a deep violet beam.
Did you know that the word LASER stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation? And that a MASER is a laser beam with wavelengths in the microwave part of the spectrum? Most lasers fire a monochromatic (one color) narrow, focused beam of light, but more complex lasers emit a broad range of wavelengths at the same time.
Is that laser SAFE?
What about lasers we use everyday? The lasers we’re going to be using in our labs during camp are semiconductor lasers that use a small laser diode to emit a beam. They are the same lasers that are in the grocery store scanners, pen laser pointers and key chain lasers. Usually a class I or II laser, these pose minimal safety risk and are safe to use in our experiments.
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