How do lasers cut things?

Question

heat?

Answer 1

A laser is basically a beam of intensely focused light energy.  When this energy runs into a material, such as a metal, the material absorbs most of this energy in the form of heat.  If the laser is of a high enough energy, it will be able to melt right or burn through a material fairly easily, thus cutting the material.  Depending on how focused the laser energy is, and with the guidance of precision robotics, the material in question can be cut or etched very accurately.  

Answer 2

1) The usual way for most things is that the power density of the laser is very high, so the material being cut gets extremely hot, and either vaporizes or burns.

2) Some special applications 'fan the fire' by adding reactive species such as oxygen where the laser hits, so that chemical reactions started by the laser release even more energy.

3) There are also laser glass cutters, which have become common in the LCD industry.  They don't evaporate the glass.  What they do is create a tiny spot of intense heat, which results in a stress due to thermal expansion, which takes a pre-existing crack and propogates it.  Then the laser moves around and the crack just follows along.

Answer 3

Intense heat. You can fire a laser in 3 simple steps: 1. Charge your laser. 2. Fire your laser. 3. Say shoop da whoop for no apparent reason.

Answer 4

intense heat

Answer 5

it's thu heat man..

Answer 6

when you get an amazing amount of light into such a small beam, im about to get scientific but lol electrons need room to move so then theres a bunch of friction and movement creating heat

Answer 7

Really hot beam. USA RULES!

Answer 8

High levels of radiation and heat!

Answer 9

heat.

Answer 10

itense heat magnified on a specific spot

Answer 11

The intense amount of electron energy cause by the high intensity laser on the object caused the neutrons of the object to become over active and break apart from their bonds causing the object to "cut"

Answer 12

direct heat created by an direct intense light  

Answer 13

Well if your lazering your upper lip,

it makes it so there is no hair up there

ever again. This is because it kills the

hair roots.

Lazering your eyes to make your sight

better, i dont know how that works sorry.

Answer 14

when you strap them to a sharks head