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How a Light Saber Works
- whtrbt 13y agoThat was a fun read. So this version of the lightsaber differs in that it has a visible cap on the tip and that it doesn't reflect blaster fire?
- whiddershins 13y agoAFAICT this version of the lightsaber is not collapsible. Which takes away the coolest aspect of it.
- enduser 13y agoIf you read the full article it is explained later on how the filaments of glass are coiled and wrapped in such a way that they fit in the handle and expand when lit by the light pressure causing the filament cords to expand like an inflated wick.
- enduser 13y agoObviously there is no power supply. The Jedi channels the energy of the Force. I never noticed the Jedi avoiding looking at the naked beam of a lightsaber in the movies. I'd think it would be quite damaging to the eyes.
- deletes 13y agoI read a long time ago in some kinda official source, that they have a cold fusion source in the handle.
- RKoutnik 13y agoIf it is, it isn't conscious, Han Solo cuts open a Tauntaun at the beginning of Ep 5 with Luke's lightsaber.
- eps 13y agoThere's also Gen. Grievous and his throphy lightsabers.
- damon_c 13y agowe don't mention him...
- mschuster91 13y agoFor all that's known, Grievous was a pretty good fighter before he got turned into that machine monster. So, like Vader, he is still alive in a Force sense. I guess this is also why his MagnaGuards don't carry lightsabers, but electrostaffs instead.
- ekianjo 13y agoNobody cares about Grievous. He's part of the later, shittier movies from a different director (yeah Lucas in 2000s has nothing to do with the Lucas in the 70s).
- clem 13y agoMaybe just having the lightsaber Luke's proximity was enough to power it? After all, some Jedi can hurl their lightsabers.
- eric_h 13y ago
- sb23 13y agoI couldn't see an explanation of how the sabers can strike each other without causing damage to those around them, or themselves. Also, wouldn't a ceramic plate in the handle make the saber incredibly fragile?
- huhtenberg 13y agoNice, but tail mirror doesn't reconcile with Jedis sticking sabers into metal doors to cut the openings.
- thatmiddleway 13y agoNow I'm no physicist, but wouldn't the heat of the "blade" still be capable of melting the door, unless the jedi applied enough pressure to actually collapse the blade?
- eric_h 13y agoIndeed. If I recall the scene in question correctly, they did seem to be quite ginger in applying pressure, appearing to let the heat do all the work. (Mind you, I haven't seen that movie in at least a decade and my youtube/google-fu failed to produce a clip)
- talmand 13y agoI recall that on several occasions Jedi just shove the things as hard as they want into and through whatever they want. Especially in fighting the droids in the Clone Wars episodes. I assumed the slowness of sliding the blade into the door in the scene you mention was due to the thickness of the door. It couldn't be sliced open because it was too thick, therefore you melt a hole into it.
- redthrowaway 13y agoI'm not even sure why that part is necessary. The mirror can be anchored at the other end and the filaments constructed/woven such that they assume the proper shape when charged.
- deletes 13y ago5000 degrees, centimeters away from a naked hand, would be kinda damaging to skin.
- Arnor 13y agoThat's where _the force_ comes in. Nerd Shamed by vvv
- deletes 13y agoHan Solo isn't a force user. Hoth
- jaredmcateer 13y agoTBF He had heavy duty insulated gloves on and the lightsaber was only powered for ~10 seconds.
- deletes 13y agoThat is true. He could do it. But there is the problem of the Tauntan. If the saber did produce that temperature, they wouldn't need to rest inside of the the warm carcass, therefore, by the movie's logic, the saber doesn't produce much temperature.
- GFK_of_xmaspast 13y agowho needs an explanation behind "its some space wizard stuff".
- PhasmaFelis 13y agoNobody needs an explanation, but explanations are fun. Don't go hatin' on a man's hobbies.
- snowwrestler 13y agoIt is funny to see which attributes each person believes need explaining. The article here spends paragraphs on the blade, but hand-waves a handle-sized terawatt power source into existence.
- eric_h 13y ago> hand-waves a ... power source into existence This seems true to the source document.
- PhasmaFelis 13y agoThree problems I see: 1) This lightsaber appears to allow blaster fire to pass through undeflected. 2) There is no discussion of how sabers parry each other instead of breaking. 3) It appears to have a "blunt" tip. 1 and 2 could possibly be explained as a Force-related effect. Vader has been seen to deflect blaster bolts with his bare palms, so we know that the Force is capable of doing this; perhaps something in the design of the lightsaber makes it much easier to perform this feat with the surface of the blade, or perhaps it even produces a field or resonance in the Force that deflects energies without conscious effort beyond that needed to power the saber. Vader's deflection power may be inspired by study of the saber itself. This implies that a sufficiently powerful Force user could parry a lightsaber with their bare hands! However, given that the blaster-deflection trick appears to be quite difficult, saber-deflection may be possible in theory but beyond any Jedi's abilities in practice. 2 could also be explained by advanced materials technology. The filaments, perhaps created by Force-guided elemental deposition, may simply be too strong for human muscles to break by whacking them together. 3 could perhaps be solved by making the filaments loop back around at the tip instead of terminating in a ceramic cap. A single filament, then, would spiral clockwise out from the base of the blade, make a 180-degree turn, and spiral back inwards counterclockwise. The only problem is that this would produce much greater light pressure in the tip than along the rest of the filament; saber designers would have to take this into account to avoid catastrophic failure.
- hrkristian 13y ago>This implies that a sufficiently powerful Force user could parry a lightsaber with their bare hands! Relevant YouTube clip: [1] Star Wars games are considered C-Canon[2], so I think it's a safe bet a work as huge as SW:ToR can be considered authorative. I also remember Knights of the Old Republic 2 having a feat called "Unarmed Parry" or so which allowed parrying any melee weapon. [1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ToztqqDcaY#t=203 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ToztqqDcaY#t=203 [2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Expanded_Universe#Official_levels_of_canon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Expanded_Universe#Off...
- TrainedMonkey 13y agoI always thought light saber was basically plasma contained by magnetic field.
- kolev 13y agoMe too.
- easy_rider 13y agoelectromagnetic containment sounds like the most viable solution. Now how are we going to solve the inevitable heat dissipation problem. Basically we're trying to mimic the conditions of the sun, and wield such immense power in a very tiny handle no? Don't think this will ever be possible :)
- talmand 13y agoNot with that attitude it won't. I think eventually something like a lightsaber would be feasible. I like to envision my Southern descendants having fun by hovering along in their speeders in the middle of the night slicing off the tops of mailboxes.
- pbhjpbhj 13y agohttp://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Lightsaber http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Lightsaber is anyone cares enough to read it.
- jared314 13y agoI think basing it on light is a mistake. I much prefer the solid core construction idea, with either a thin layer of plasma and/or a highly excited core material. I re-watched Star Wars Episode 1 recently, and, as soon as the first lightsaber showed up on screen, I felt like a kid again. The movie is still terrible, and should be excluded from the series[1]. But, there is just something about watching space samurai, with light-up swords, that made me spend the next three hours imagining how to build something like it. [1] http://static.nomachetejuggling.com/machete_order.html http://static.nomachetejuggling.com/machete_order.html
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- gohrt 13y ago> I re-watched Star Wars Episode 1 recently Were you watching it out of phase in hope the interference with your first watching would cancel it from your memory?
- sb23 13y agoCommon mistake - if it leaves your memory, the next time you see the cover you'll go back to the "Awesome, a new Star Wars movie!" mentality.
- joshrotenberg 13y agoOr you stand there in disgust, wondering how the hell Oskar Schindler and Mark Renton found each other and why they haven't cut their hair in a long time ... and put it back on the shelf.
- sb23 13y agoIf only it had gone that way. Star Wars fans seem to be willing to give the benefit of the doubt.
- elwell 13y ago
- Someone 13y ago"The prevailing theory is that a thin layer of steam builds up around it immediately, preventing the rest of the water to come into contact" A miss in front of an open goal :-). This should have mentioned the beautiful word "Leidenfrost" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leidenfrost_effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leidenfrost_effect)
- zacinbusiness 13y agoI was aware of this effect but unaware that it had a name. Thanks for that!
- jonalmeida 13y agoOn Earth Unplugged they show how to direct a droplet of water using this effect. [1] [1]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIXFxP_6m7I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIXFxP_6m7I
- abcd_f 13y agoLeidenfrost effect is how you test if your stainless steel skillet is at the right temperature for cooking. If you are into cooking, I must insist you check this out - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB-SCA1reqE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB-SCA1reqE
- NAFV_P 13y agoIs this an idea for a startup?
- raldi 13y ago> Force-operated If it's force-operated, how did Han use Lukes's to slice open the tauntaun on Hoth?
- jessaustin 13y agoDoes the Force require lucidity in order to operate?
- catshirt 13y agono but Han does not use the force
- lotsofmangos 13y agoYes, but only out of choice. He is actually the most powerful Jedi in existence, which is how he managed to travel through time to fight the Nazis.
- sitkack 13y agoYou mean in Raiders of the Lost Ark?
- lotsofmangos 13y agoYeah, the Ark is actually a Sith relic containing the ash from Vader's cremation on Endor.
- sitkack 13y agohttp://i.imgur.com/mJMj0.gif http://i.imgur.com/mJMj0.gif and now I know what's in the briefcase in Pulp Fiction.
- jessaustin 13y agoHan doesn't have to use the Force. Luke is present, though not lucid, and he uses the Force.
- andrewcooke 13y agocan evanescent waves couple with the environment to generate the plasma?
- IgorPartola 13y agoNot sure where the original source is but this is definitely worth a read: http://geektyrant.com/news/architect-of-death-star-speaks-out-about-vents-in-open-letter http://geektyrant.com/news/architect-of-death-star-speaks-ou...
- batoure 13y agoI don't know where I first came across the concept of "fiction apologism" heres a pretty good explanation: http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/future-screens-are-mostly-blue/ http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/future-screens-are-mos... but I feel like it is a wonderful under-appreciated art.
- wordofchristian 13y ago"Also, the filaments are so thin and so far apart (relatively speaking), that beams from energy weapons hardly affect them and just pass through." A lightsaber is supposed to reflect the beams of energy weapons. Not let them through.
- krisgee 13y agoAs with all things Star Wars Wookiepedia has an extensive article on how lightsabers work "in universe". http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Lightsaber http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Lightsaber
- Luis261 13y ago3D ionizing laser can create and energy beam of a fixed length or point. And thus create your light saber. http://www.gizmag.com/burton-true-3d-laser-plasma-display/20499/ http://www.gizmag.com/burton-true-3d-laser-plasma-display/20...
- userbinator 13y agoAlso related: http://www.howstuffworks.com/lightsaber.htm http://www.howstuffworks.com/lightsaber.htm
- a1a 13y agoSome ideas from Michio Kaku: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLcEYbAdyxk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLcEYbAdyxk (goto 5:13)
- quarterwave 13y agoMy theory - just made it up - a lightsaber is a hologram formed by phase conjugation of third-order non-linear vacuum polarization (chi-3). A fusion energy source emits gamma rays which form the hologram, and in turn the hologram shapes the beam, it's a feedback effect. A lightsaber beam can block another light beam in the following way - the incoming beam acts as a wiggler for the lightsaber pump photons, which first get downshifted and then disintegrate into matter-antimatter pairs. The trick is to separate the matter from antimatter and channel them into the reactor. So firing at a lightsaber actually charges it. The problem of course is conservation of momentum. To counteract the backwards jolt, a lightsaber creates a forward momentum impulse. This counteraction is not perfect, so Jedi are trained to maintain their balance in such situations. When two lightsabers contact their beams are actually consumed by the other. That's why the Jedi/Sith can go on fighting forever, all the while throwing senate furniture at each other.
- ilovecookies 13y ago"Anything it touches is heated to 4000 to 5000 oC within milliseconds, depending on the properties of the material. And we all know what that can do!" Just the face temperature of the sun, probably would melt your face off as soon as you turned on the thing.