I know the highest power laser available to the public is 300mW. That can pop balloons at close range and cut tape. How powerful would a laser have to be to injure or kill a human being on contact?
2007-03-01 07:42:23 · 4 answers · asked by dhpc_raptor 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
It depends on the LASER frequency.
You can buy commercial 25 W CarbonDioxide LASERS for engraving, and those will burn your skin faster than you can pull your hand away. They operate in the far IR region.
Visible light LASERS would have to be in the 10 kWatt or higher power level to start to do damage (except for the eyes).
UV and X-Ray LASERS don't need too much power to do some serious damage to the human body.
I worked in a lab where they forgot to put a beam-stop in place. A 300 mW near IR LASER burned a hole in the wall of the lab -- it caught fire, and after they put the (very small) fire out we were laughing.
Bottom line: Answer -- it depends on what kind (freq.) of LASER you are talking about to fully answer the other questions.
.
.
2007-03-01 08:11:35 · answer #1 · answered by tlbs101 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have worked on a 1 gig watt,and it would blind u at 50 miles.
2007-03-01 15:55:00 · answer #2 · answered by JOHNNIE B 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
most basic lasers can blind you so i would say they dont have to be that powerful you hurt you
2007-03-01 15:46:23 · answer #3 · answered by links305 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1.21 gigawatts
2007-03-01 15:47:03 · answer #4 · answered by na 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋