What would a deadly laser feel like.?

Question

Like a Death Star type laser, I guess. For all intents and purposes, let’s say this would hit in his stomach. Note, this is completely theoretical. I’m writing a Sci-Fi screenplay, and obviously a laser from a laser gun would be different that a bullet. Would my character need medical attention, and if so, what kind? Would he pass out, or just brush it off. And it’s gonna be like a Call of Duty deadly laser that you could see and is too often seen in cinema, not like an invisible microwave laser.

in progress 0
General Physics RvTDLR 6 years 1 Answer 1022 views 0

About RvTDLR

Answer ( 1 )

  1. Depends on the laser gun. Specifically, how the wavelength used is absorbed in the body tissues and how much power you have behind it.

    1) the laser would vaporize the tissue it hits. This in turn would create a steam cloud (since the tissue is mainly water), which would in practice very much limit the laser power reaching deeper tissue layers until the steam cloud has had time to dissipate.

    2) if the laser is powerful enough (or not in a frequency range that is influenced by the steam cloud, e.g. an X-Ray laser), it will develop the steam cloud deep inside the body. In this case, the character won’t need any medical help, although the room might need redocorating. Imagine swallowing a handgranade.

    3) if any of the light from a laser sufficiently powerful gets reflected e.g. on the walls of the room, the character will be blinded a) pretty instantly and b) probably permanently. Unless your SF medicine can restore sight to people without a retina, medical help in this case would also be useless

    Stick to practically anything else – laser as an antipersonnel weapon is pretty much a bad idea. Plus, a fog grenade or two will turn any visible laser into a deadly trap.

Leave an answer

Browse