How lasers work (in theory)

How does a laser really work? It's Bose - Einstein statistics! (photons are bosons)

Check out Smarter Every Day's video showing lasers in real life: http://bit.ly/uBwhU2

Trying out a new feature: English Transcript! Let me know how it works

Tweet it - http://bit.ly/uZchvb
Facebook it - http://on.fb.me/u4Yfvr

minutephysics is now on Google+ - http://bit.ly/qzEwc6
And facebook - http://facebook.com/minutephysics
And twitter - @minutephysics

Minute Physics provides an energetic and entertaining view of old and new problems in physics -- all in a minute!

Music by Nathaniel Schroeder
youtube: http://bit.ly/pakJLE
myspace: http://mysp.ac/qtmZQj

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Destin
• smarter every day
• destinws2
• open cavity
• laser
• bose
• einstein
• statistics
• coin
• flip
• photon
• comb
• hairy
• ball
• topology
• million
• dollars
• approximate
• estimate
• Sean
• Carroll
• arrow
• of
• time
• entropy
• past
• future
• GPS
• atomic
• special
• relativity
• atom
• nuclear
• military
• General Relativity
• Energy
• Technology
• break
• speed
• light
• movie
• brian
• greene
• color
• Dark
• energy
• Nobel
• Prize
• Minutephysics
• minute
• physics
• universe
• Henry
• Reich
• xkcd
• rsanimate
• dark
• matter
• cat
• schrodinger
• fire
• Drawing
• Educational

[platinumfrost]

I remember the first time i got excited by a photon when it pass me by.. ahh love.

[khosrow]

"imagine two coins...ecept photons are nothing like coins" fuck you XD

[Deadmau5wannabe]

this really helped me for my science project

[Deathray75]

@flamingfalkor So what about this if i hit my two pans together as hard as i can apart from becoming deaf light does seems to leak out. Its it simply that i dont have enought "umpth" to cause this

[flamingfalkor]

@Deathray75 There's two main ways, collisions and light. Collisions would be like heat and light would be like solar cells. When atoms collide they release heat, so a greater number of hot atoms (like a fire) produces more heat (like fire heating metal). Light excites atoms by making their electrons "jump" to a higher energy level. When the valence (outermost) electrons are excited like this they escape from their orbits and are released as electricity.

[darkilustrisimus]

I killed my cat with laser

[newbiedoodle]

1:16 Well, we seem to have a threeway... Look at the bottom of the laser.

[aluisious]

...this video didn't explain dink.

[9hello123]

@Deathray75 Heat works, or electricity or light. Practically anything that can transfer energy.

If you heat up a pot enough light does come out of it, you can see it glow.

[Deathray75]

I am a idiot but someone please tell me how you "excite atoms". is it through heat? if so then when I put a pot on the stove laser don't shoot out of it? Remember i dunno anything so yeah