why does the point of a laser look pixelated when spread out?
In: Physics
Light is actually tons of tiny packets of energy getting thrown at something. Think of a directed light source like a laser or flashlight as a shotgun. When it’s close to a wall, the spread is very very small, and the light looks like a single spot. When it gets further away, the pellets can go in a wider area, making it look more messy.
For a regular flashlight, all the energy getting thrown out isn’t identical, so in a way, this makes it less predictable. Lasers are super special and can throw out identical energy packets, so these will make more of an obvious pattern. While flashlights just get dim as they spread out, lasers will have clearer light and dark spots.
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