How Does a Laser Actually Work?

A laser is like a flashlight that only shines one color of light, and all the beams line up perfectly. To make it work, you put something inside that makes more light, which gets brighter and brighter until it comes out as a super strong beam. It's like when a bunch of kids in a hallway all start shouting at once, their voices combine into one big noise.

Take the quiz →

Examples

  1. A red laser pointer is like a flashlight that only shines one color of light, and all the beams are in line.
  2. When you point a green laser at a wall, all the lines on the wall come from one single beam of light.
  3. Lasers can cut metal because they send out super focused beams of light.

Ask a question

See also

Discussion

Recent activity