How many Mw does it take to burn paper and pop balloons with a laser pointer?

Question

I want to get a new laser pointer and I want to get 1 that can burn stuff so I need to know that and if u can plz give me some tips on buying one and possibly tell me how to find out if it's a scam

thanks

Answer 1

The answer to your question depends on how well you can focus the beam.  If you want to burn stuff with an unfocused beam, you would need a watt.  (By the way, no laser has MW (megawatts) of power.  Laser pointers are in the few mW (milliwatts) range.)  No laser pointer is that powerful.  To get something to burn with a reasonable inexpensive lens, you would probably need 100 mW.  No laser pointer is that powerful.  With fancy lenses, you could probably do it with 10 mW.  But, just so you know, the laser damage threshold for your eye is about 1 mW.  That makes a 10 mW laser dangerous to play with.  A 100 mW laser would easily have reflections that could cause instant eye damage.  So I would never play with these things for something as silly as burning a hole in a paper, if I were you.  How about you just use a lighter?

Answer 2

if u buy a 500mw laser than u would be able to light a match it is soooo cool