Name: ____________________________________________ Period: ______________ Date: ____________________
Question:
How does a laser work? _______________________________________________________________________
Answer:
A laser is made by taking a tube with mirrors on each end and filling it with a particular gas and then
sending a flash of light into the tube. When the light hits the gas molecules some of them emit photons-little pieces of light. Some of the photons hit the mirrors and are reflected back and forth between
the mirrors and build up until there is a powerful beam of light. Each photon in this beam of light causes
more gas molecules to emit more photons, so the beam gets stronger and stronger. Soon, the beam of
light is power enough to go through one of the mirrors and leave the tube. This is a laser beam.
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Picture/Diagram 1
Picture/Diagram 2
Explanation
This is a diagram of
a laser before it is
turned on________
Explanation
This is a diagram of
a laser beam turned
on.
________
Interesting Fact/Information:
__
Some lasers are powerful enough to pop balloons!________________________ ____________________
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Works Cited:
1. http://science.howstuffworks.com/laser5.htm
2. http://inventors.about.com/od/lstartinventions/a/laser.htm
3.
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