Prisms

Is it a bad idea to aim a laser into a prism?

Does the beam still stay at about 95% or is it broken down into less powerful beams which was my guess?

Do mirrored sunglasses protect you from lasers, with the thought that your in a controled area and alone?

Any other quick dos and do nots besides whats in the saftey sticky?

Any other good demenstrations of the uses of lasers that are relativly safe and exciting?

We have used them during night hikes


Thanks

A prism will spread the colors out. So white light is spread into a rainbow of colors. But it only takes what was there and spreads it out. So with a monochromatic (means one color) laser, there is nothing to spread out. You send red in and you get the same red out.

Mirrored sun glasses are pretty simular to regular sun glasses. They reduce UV a lot and reduce visible light a little. They offer little protection against a laser that needs protection. Get real laser safty glasses designed for the laser you need protection from. Or, stick with 5mw or lower power lasers that are much safer.

High pwer lasers can be extremly dangerours. All it takes is for a beam to hit something and for it to bounce back into your eye and in a micro second you have made yourself permanetly blind.

But once again 5mw lasers are fairly safe, just don't stair into the beam or let anyone else do it.

For fun, try shining the laser on crystals, liquids, of different colors. Try shinning it on spinning mirrors like a mirrored ball. Try getting some baby powder and dusting the air so you can see the beam. (Be careful with powders and open flames) Water mist can also be used.

i have 10 mw greenies that easily leak about 40% light through solid glass style mirrors so i highly doubt some reflective plastic lenses will help you much, considering light is meant to go through them

laser saftey goggles are made of specific color materials depending on what wavelength of light you are trying to block, they dont just filter out all light. thats what makes them the only way to go if you arent gonna try to blind yourself

Aiming a laser into a prism is not a serious concern unless your laser is over 5mW. Most people working with lasers and prisms wear safety glasses and if they work with higher powered lasers (class 3B or 4), they will often line up their prisms with a low powered laser just to be certain that the lasers are well aligned. Then they remove the low powered laser and use the higher output laser.

/I know of a scientist who lost an eye from a rather LOW powered laser that was refracting from a misaligned prism on a laser platform in a lab. I believe it was an infrared laser and the output was under 40mW.

eww thats gotta suck, especialy since you wouldnt even have the blink reflex that normaly protects your eye from that kinda stuff since you cant see it..

If you are using any kind of higher powered laser, I would be sure to have some sort of laser safety goggles to protect you from the refections you are sure to encounter!