• Question: In the chat we had today you said lasers could be used to cut rocks, Why can't we cut the rocks using knifes or saws?

    Asked by Sophese to Tom on 16 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Thomas Barrett

      Thomas Barrett answered on 16 Mar 2015:

      Hey,

      A good question. We can’t cut a rock with a knife as most rocks are very hard. Some however such as Talc (where you get talcum powder from) is really soft and crumbly and can be broken by your fingers so it depends on the type of rock. Most however need a diamond tipped saw to cut at a minimum as they are so hard only diamond (one of the hardest things we know) can cut it. A regular saw would just break.

      I use a laser (its actually an ion beam but laser is very similar, more people know what it is and it’s faster to type out) not to cut the rock (although if you had one powerful enough you could cut it) but to blast small holes in
      the rock to measure what its made of. I have a basic diagram on my profile for it.

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