What are the characteristics that make a laser light different from ordinary light?
Answers
Answer:
Monochromatic
prism
The light emitted from a laser is monochromatic, that is, it is of one wavelength (color). In contrast, ordinary white light is a combination of many different wavelengths (colors).
Directional
green laser
Lasers emit light that is highly directional. Laser light is emitted as a relatively narrow beam in a specific direction. Ordinary light, such as coming from the sun, a light bulb, or a candle, is emitted in many directions away from the source.
sun through clouds
Coherent
Coherent waves
The light from a laser is said to be coherent, which means the wavelengths of the laser light are in phase in space and time.
Goldfinger
These three properties of laser light are what make it more of a hazard than ordinary light. Laser light can deposit a great deal of energy within a very small area - as James Bond nearly found out in Goldfinger!