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Here's a fun little experiment you can try.
You'll need;
A laser powerful enough to burn, preferably focusable, with a decent duty cycle.
A small clear plastic or glass box or other enclosure (Must be relatively air-tight. A pop bottle or over-turned glass ware on a table might work.)
A material to burn that produces good amounts of smoke (I used black leather.)
Safety glasses recommended, of course.
Set-up is simple. Place the material to be burned in you chosen enclosure, and burn it with the laser. Now watch as the smoke follows the shifting air currents. This works best if the smoke only has to rise a few inches. As the air heats up, you'll see an interesting demonstration of convection. You also might try burning different materials to see if the smoke reacts differently.
BONUS - Now that you have a box of smoke, you can play with your beam. Try shining it at different angles to see what effects you get. Play around with the focus. Break out the diffraction gratings. Get Creative!
You'll need;
A laser powerful enough to burn, preferably focusable, with a decent duty cycle.
A small clear plastic or glass box or other enclosure (Must be relatively air-tight. A pop bottle or over-turned glass ware on a table might work.)
A material to burn that produces good amounts of smoke (I used black leather.)
Safety glasses recommended, of course.
Set-up is simple. Place the material to be burned in you chosen enclosure, and burn it with the laser. Now watch as the smoke follows the shifting air currents. This works best if the smoke only has to rise a few inches. As the air heats up, you'll see an interesting demonstration of convection. You also might try burning different materials to see if the smoke reacts differently.
BONUS - Now that you have a box of smoke, you can play with your beam. Try shining it at different angles to see what effects you get. Play around with the focus. Break out the diffraction gratings. Get Creative!
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