Question

Let's say that there is a helicopter flying through the sky, and you have a blue laser and a red laser. You want to try and hit the helicopter with your laser. Which one will have a better chance of going far enough to reach the helicopter and why?

A) The blue laser, because it has a longer wavelength.
B) The red laser, because it has a shorter wavelength.
C) The blue laser, because it has a shorter wavelength.
D) The red laser, because it has a longer wavelength.

Answer 1

The red laser has a better chance of going far enough to hit the helicopter due to its longer wavelength, which tends to scatter less in the atmosphere compared to the shorter wavelength of the blue laser.

Step-by-step explanation:

The correct answer to which laser would have a better chance of going far enough to reach the helicopter is D) The red laser, because it has a longer wavelength. In the context of visibility and transmission through the Earth's atmosphere, typically a laser's ability to travel longer distances is not significantly affected by its color as it relates to wavelength. However, different wavelengths do interact with the atmosphere in slightly different ways. Red light tends to scatter less than blue light, which can be advantageous when aiming at a distant target like a helicopter. In practice, both lasers if of comparable power, would reach the helicopter, but atmospheric conditions could affect the scattering of the laser beam. Moreover, the concept that blue light can store more information such as when used in CDs, pertains to the resolution at which the light can interact with the medium, not its travel distance in the atmosphere.