• Question: What would happen if you shot a laser at the sea?

    Asked by confuddled213 to Mike, Pip, Tianfu, Tim, Tom on 27 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Tom Lister

      Tom Lister answered on 27 Jun 2012:

      If I fire one of our lasers into a cup of water, it makes a bang sound as it boils away a little water. After firing for five minutes, the water doesn’t seem much warmer and I can’t tell that there is much that has evaporated.

    • Photo: Tim Stephens

      Tim Stephens answered on 27 Jun 2012:

      The light will refract at the surface, and some (about 4%) will be reflected. The light that goes into the water will then be absorbed by the water and the salts and other stuff that’s dissolved in it, or it might be scattered by small particles of dirt that are suspended in the water. If the sea isn’t too deep, it might reach the bottom.
      If the laser beam is powerful enough, so much energy might be absorbed that you get heating of the water and possibly a bang if it’s heated quick enough.

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