Can a real Lightsaber be Made?

reply to post by Interestinggg


I 100% agree with u

Why make a light saber if you can harness that kind of energy?
Why cap the "lazer" or whatever you decide makes the beam?
Id just make it a lazer, then you can dice any jedi at 300 meters away!

you could build something like a laser sword that could act similar, actually just cut. The diameter would be really tiny (punctual even) but it may look thick, haven't tried anything similar to see what and if you can see.

-the problem is a portable high power laser. We just don`t have it yet.
-and a transparent material that can change shape a bit just by using electricity (we have that - piezoelectric effect).

i`ll try to present my idea here.


======= ||| \
======= ||| - * ** *** ****
======= ||| /

sorry for the bad schematics ...

=== laser beam
||| material that acts like a magnifying glass to focus the laser
* ** *** etc are areas where the light is focused because of the shape change of the material.

the hard part is making the material change shape really fast.

the saber would only have enough power to burn in the center there the light is focused, then again because it`s just a laser it can`t cut glass and shiny stuff.

----
OPTION II

plasma beam held together by a magnetic field. Right now they are using this technology to test the idea of nuclear fusion.
this requires a lot of power like ... nuclear fusion to work but it should cut anything (it could be as hot as the sun) so without a thermal shield it can`t work.

In a word: NO. Once the stimulated coherent light waves are emitted there would be no stopping them at say 37 inches (sword length). They would continue to travel outward at the speed of light. It would be more like a laser gun with no separate grip. It makes for good science fiction tho (cue up that Star Wars theme now....).

A "lightsaber" is very well possible, so long as you aren't using photons. A "light emitting saber" could certainly consist of other forms of energetic/subatomic particles which react differently. Using one for example that responded highly to EM fields could then use filed lines to loop outgoing energy from the circumference of the projector (circle) to the (vertex) center of the emitter.

Making a "laser" sword is truly pointless, and is an indiscriminate weapon unless you pulse it on target. Your best bet is a close in plasma induction blade which will cut virtually any material. Moreover, all you need to power it is high temperature conductive materials and one of the recently developed ultra-high-capacity capacitors, rigged to slowly discharge in a sequential parallel circuit.

[edit on 23-12-2008 by Tenzin]

reply to post by kkahluadarkj


www.sciam.com... ge=3

Let's talk lightsabers. Ah, lightsabers. When I first saw Star Wars, I was 17 years old, and I thought they were laser beams. But that doesn't make any sense because a laser beam wouldn't come to a point after a few feet. Also, the laser wouldn't be visible unless there was a lot of dust in the air to scatter light and illuminate the beam. Plus, laser lightsabers would pass through each other like flashlight beams, which wouldn’t make for a very fun fight. So I think plasma is a better candidate. This ionized gas is made by lightning, is what the sun's made out of, and is even used in plasma TVs. You can contain plasma using electric and magnetic fields, which exert inward pressure to match the plasma's outward pressure. This means you could make different shapes, like a lightsaber–esque cylinder. But there are some problems: You couldn't create a tip, and plasma would leak and vaporize the skin off Luke Skywalker's hands. And as with a laser, you couldn't fit all the necessary machinery to generate the plasma into a sword handle. Plus, the beam would need to be millions of degrees and far denser, in terms of energy, than anything we have now. But if somehow you could do all that, sure enough, the lightsaber would cut through metal and bone. The fields containing plasma would repel other lightsabers, so they would work like what you see, except it would radiate a great deal of heat, about as much of the sun. Jedi would have really bad sunburns.

That should about cover it...so, no. 'Tis unfortunate.

[edit on 27-12-2008 by Logic616]

reply to post by kkahluadarkj


An observation concerning the impossibility of making a functional lightsabre, please forgive me if this appears glib.
30 years ago, the problems would be
a) making a portable laser beam that is hot enough
b) making the beam end at a desired length
c) generating the power required for its function

Today, only b and c are the real issues.
Just sayin'.

Years ago, I encountered an interesting site (which has apparently disappeared into the ethers, unfortunately)
The gist was that if a powerful, dense forcefield could be generated from the handle, then torqued into a very narrow cylindrical shape, you'd effectively have an energetic monomolecular blade.
The glow would be an ionizing effect.
From my understanding though, forcefields like that are still very much science fiction and the problem of power is not solved. But blade length/cut through anything is.

Cheers

Maybe lightsabers need a crystal with the energy that can power the lightsabre for eternity and with the abbility of the crystal to recharge it's energy.Of course that lightsabre need to be adjusted to the power of the crystal and the crystal to be adjusted to the lightsabre if it's a double-handed.It has to be very well adjusted because from the two ways will be a beam of light energy.

The forcefield idea actually makes more sense than a laser. The whole thing with the lightsaber is that not only can it cut through almost anything, it could deflect other lightsabers and "blaster" bolts. A laser could not do any of these things. So perhaps the gem that is used in a lightsaber is some kind of material that resonates in such a way that it creates a forcefield, and that field can be tuned by using a laser at a certain wavelength. That could work...

I may not do physics at university, but I have to point out something on this issue. Why would you need to confine a beam of plasma to a small (1 metre or so) blade anyway? If you could just miniaturise a plasma torch system capable of making a (relatively concentrated, granted) beam that held out for far enough that would surely be all you need, right? Even if it dissipates quickly, if it shoots out of your device fast enough it would get to the required distance anyway. And, it doesn't really matter how refined it is at the end, it's white hot plasma and will cut through anything you decide to use it on (read, some sort of living (well, not for long....) opponent).

And as for the solidity of a lightsaber, why do you want it to be solid to another? That just allows you to be blocked, and all things considered, you don't want it to be on for very long, since it would burn the wielder unless some highly insulating material is worn while using it, and the power source would run out pretty quickly.

And, as for the range issue, it's only Star Wars that uses such a silly weapons doctrine as to suggest that lightsabers could be the only weapon someone would carry. It would be a far more effective last resort weapon, due to it's highly powerful and deadly (for both user and opponent) nature. Perhaps if we are really suggesting such a high level of technology would be obtained, then combined with some sort of advanced stealth technology, it could be useful for espionage or assassination.

Of course, I don't know why I've given this quite so much thought.

again like it has been said by a few here, a light saber's production lies only in the fact that the power source cannot be replicated in the outlandish si-fi manner. though if you think about it dosent our very own planet not only capture but repell massive amounts of harmful plasma that without the monumental magnetic feilds that cocoon our planet would shurly destroy it think about that one, the other idea is resonence, yes resonence im not going to get into it but if you want to know more about how that could work look up the works of tesla and the haarp project. muhahahahahahaha tesla was the only wizard to ever live....... maybe he was related to merlin....... omg way too much caffiene KILL ME! (please ignore spelling ive given up on myself)

I agree with the above. In the sci-fi terms that define what a lightsaber is constructed of, it wouldn't work. But even George Lucas himself admitted that he was simply creating fiction and didn't know anything about how it would work. He just called it a lightsaber because...well...it emits light. When you go home and say "turn on the light, would ya?" are you referring to a nonstop beam of light? No, you're visually describing an incandescent bulb operated by electricity, which of course emits light. Same thing applies to a lightsaber - it emits light, but that doesn't mean it is made of light. When little Anakin told Qui Gon that he saw his laser sword, are you going to accept that as fact. Anakin was a kid when he said that, and had no knowledge of how a lightsaber was constructed, nor physics for that matter. You're gonna go off the word of a KID?

If you want to build a lightsaber, you have no choice but to go with existing technology, and if it doesn't exist, well then - invent it. A plasma saber can be called a lightsaber because it would emit light. Plasma is possible here people. It occurs naturally everyday. Physicists always yammer about how you can't generate enough power to inject a plasma into a magnetic field, which bugs me because they're always talking about plasma and magnetic fields as if one has absolutely nothing to do with the other - like they should be regarded as two separate and unlinked entities. Let's talk electricity. A flow of charge generates an electromagnetic field, and vice-versa an EM field will generate a flow of charge. Now let's talk about conductivity. Your best conductors are silver and copper. These are good conductors. Some materials oppose a flow of charge - these are known as nonconductors. But, as fate would have it, nonconductors will conduct just fine if they become ionized. For example, a simple capacitor utilizes this concept. A charge builds up one one end of the capacitor, seeking to dump to the other end to complete its circuit. But a nonconductor is sandwiched in between. But something amazing happens. When enough charge builds up, the nonconductor becomes ionized and the capacitor is able to make its charge dump. When this occurs, the nonconductive material returns to its nonconductive state and the process starts all over again.

Of course, you’re thinking, why is he rambling about all this boring stuff? We live on a giant capacitor. The clouds in the sky will gradually build up a static charge. Of course, when enough charge builds up enough, you’ll get lightning. Air is a nonconductive material until it becomes ionized. And when a material becomes ionized, this means that each atom has enough energy to excite its electrons to another level until one gets bumped off. What results is a flow of charge, a flow of electrons, charge in motion – a current, pushed by a massive voltage. This of course leads me right into plasma. What IS plasma? Plasma is simply an ionized gas. It doesn’t matter what type of gas it is, as long as it IS a gas. Air is a gas, and when it becomes ionized, it is converted to plasma – this is what we call lightning. And, of course, I’ll say it again – any charge in motion generates an EM field, and therefore plasmas generate their own EM fields. This is all I will say for now – that lightning (electron arcing) is the simplest way to create a plasma saber. Of course, lightning zigzags, because it follows a nonlinear path of the least resistive molecules in the air. If you use a laser in tandem to heat the molecules, this will provide a linear path of least resistance. And PLEASE remember that like polarities will always repel. If you keep it simple, simple solutions will always present themselves. I’ve said my piece; thx for reading.

(PS: I have been very non-specific in many areas, but if you understood what I wrote, I'm sure you can figure out the rest.)

reply to post by Anonymous ATS


They'll let any old anonymous post that comes along get through, won't they?

If a lightsaber were possible with today's technology, we would have them by now. Plus, I am absolutely certain that geeks would have conquered the planet within a few weeks of their introduction. We would know if this had occurred, because they would have replaced all sporting events with "free running."

If we were on the same technological level as the people in Star Wars, we would surely be able to create them. Remember, they are at the level where they can bend space-time, travel through hyperspace, and manipulate gravity. From there, there's really not a whole lot that isn't technologically out of reach.

look its all possible its incredibly simple u obviously take a normal sword and put a laser in side its hilt cut out a button hole and there u have it a real saber.

Yeah this is possible, I envision that in the future we may have this type of item but it would be used as a tool not a weapon. You could do a lot of neat things with a lightsabre besides hurt people, warm up a large amount of cold water and go swimming in it, cut firewood effortlessly, demolition work would be fun and easy.

We couldn't do all kinds of things 500 years ago, they were in the realm of fantasy too. One thing we have learned is that there seems to to be almost no limit to technological advancement given the the proper amount of time and resources.

Not plasma.

You find a way to wrap the lazer back upon itself in a loop. It doesn't come to an end or a capped point, but a point at which it loops back.

You can then use the energy that loops back to feed the battery, reducing the overall expenditure of energy.

A plasma welder could be modified to have a 3 foot arc of plasma. It would have a cord because we just don't have light saber batteries yet.

I've been a Star Wars nerd since I can remember lol

I wish you could make them, but honestly lots of cool stuff in Star Wars defies the laws of physics. The Death Star's beam is impossible cause all the lasers would pass right through each other, unless there was something there to collect them.

The hover crafts, to work, the planets would need a large amount of nickel in its minerals, and the hover craft would need negatively charged magnets I believe. You know, the whole repelling thing with magnets and such.

of course it can....


the secret governments and militaries have magic skills... bowstaff skillz... Liger skillz.... forbidden ninja skillz..


LOL

reply to post by defcon5


actually at 0 kelvin matter stops moving and so light acts as a solid