- Joined
- May 2, 2015
- Messages
- 4
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Hello all, I’m new to the group, and to lasers in general. I’ve got a question that I haven’t been able to find an answer for. It is a physics mathematics question related to lasers. It may be here somewhere, but part of the problem is I probably don’t know enough about this topic to know what to search for. I’d like to have a formula in which I can estimate the maximum theoretical amount of heat a laser would be expected to generate.
I think kinetic energy and heat are essentially the same thing, right? They might differ in how the values are represented, but I should be able to determine the heat with a simple conversion formula if I can determine the KE? Thus, my logic follows that (in a roundabout way) Heat = KE of one photon x the number of photons in a beam. I’m sure there’s more to it than that, and I could be completely wrong, but I’d appreciate a good description of how to calculate the estimated amount of heat a laser beam should generate. Even if you just post links to stuff I can read so I can figure it out myself. I just need a push in the right direction. I’m thinking that the frequency of the beam and Planck’s constant will probably be involved in the formula????
I think kinetic energy and heat are essentially the same thing, right? They might differ in how the values are represented, but I should be able to determine the heat with a simple conversion formula if I can determine the KE? Thus, my logic follows that (in a roundabout way) Heat = KE of one photon x the number of photons in a beam. I’m sure there’s more to it than that, and I could be completely wrong, but I’d appreciate a good description of how to calculate the estimated amount of heat a laser beam should generate. Even if you just post links to stuff I can read so I can figure it out myself. I just need a push in the right direction. I’m thinking that the frequency of the beam and Planck’s constant will probably be involved in the formula????