A laser powered by tiny molecular springs (2^16)

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Do you ever wonder how lasers work? What makes them different from other sources of light? The answer "stimulated emission" is frequently given, but even more important is achieving "population inversion". In this video I try to explain both, starting from ground level (no pun intended). Specifically, I describe the functionality of my cnc CO2 laser cutter.
I also show off a woodblock printing I made using that laser cutter, replicating the graphics from the opening of The Legend of Zelda the Wind Waker. Using watercolor paper, tea, acrylic paint, and water-soluble printing ink, I recreate the prologue for the game.
Be sure to check out the subreddit: / trytryagain
Music in this video:
I Dunno by grapes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/...) ccmixter.org/files/grapes/16626
Excerpt from The Legend of Zelda, the Wind Waker opening cutscene, Nintendo
Excerpt from The Legend of Zelda, the Wind Waker: Battle, Koji Kondo, Nintendo
Excerpt from The Legend of Zelda, the Wind Waker: Legendary Hero, Koji Kondo, Nintendo
Excerpt from The Legend of Zelda, the Wind Waker: Dragon Island, Koji Kondo, Nintendo

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23 мар 2023

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Комментарии : 867

@AlphaPhoenixChannel Год назад

Side note before the FAQs: THANK YOU to everyone that chipped in to help the students of FRC Team 435! They’re headed to states! bit.ly/435fundraiser FAQs and corrections: 1) Extra shoutout to reddit user u/Mezmorizor for helping me understand some of the finer details of these transitions from a spectroscopy perspective! I hope I haven't butchered it… 2) yes I plan to release the files I cleaned up but I’m out of town at an FRC competition. If I haven’t updated the description with a link to GitHub or something by Tuesday heckle me more! 3) I’ve seen a few questions about how the laser STARTS. Before the stimulated emission, there are random photons spit out by spontaneous emission, and as soon as one of those just happens to line up with both mirrors, the chain reaction keeps going! 4) I’ve had a few people suggest erode/dilate filters to do the binary cleaning. I did try this, but the number of iterations necessary to fix most issues also totally garbled the text and fine detail. I was able to successfully clean some noise with a median filter! 5) …

@jhoughjr1 Год назад

You got a like for the meniscus in the animation

@_general_error Год назад

Isn't 2^16 = 65536? But you've got 310K atm...

@bloodalchemy Год назад

@@_general_error he said he is behind because subscribers are coming faster then him coming up with unique ways to make buttons. That's why he has pieces of paper in the 2^17 and 2^18 spots.

@AlphaPhoenixChannel Год назад

@@jhoughjr1 couldn’t think of another way to show spinning water in a cross section view 😅

@rocketman475 Год назад

Electron::hole pairs are like a golf ball falling into the hole and emitting a sound as it hits the bottom, but in the case of electrons they emit light ratherthan a sound?

@OfficiallySnek Год назад

Seems like you have been doing a lot more than "some woodworking and laser cutter projects" over your 6 month hiatus

@AlphaPhoenixChannel Год назад

The garage has gotten substantially nicer to work in lol 😁

@emmanotsostrong Год назад

Damn, has it been *six months* already?

@Crazyclay78YT Год назад

@@emmanotsostrong dude i know, i feel like the school year didnt start super long ago, even though it ends in 2 and a half ish months. could also be the weed now that i think about it

@stefankrainer8961 Год назад

It's insane how you can explain such a complicated thing in a way everybody understands it, you'd be an amazing teacher!!

@yourt00bz Год назад

When you are intelligent, which has nothing go do with school but how much you apply yourself in your passions all your life with discipline and diligence, then when you truly understand a concept you can explain it to a small child. I’ve only come to realise this after failing at those things my whole life. Good luck

@Timo_Adventures Год назад

He IS a good teacher, this is his classroom)

@stuffstuff2846 Год назад

Idk about everybody

@yourt00bz Год назад

@@stuffstuff2846 lol yeah I didn’t include myself in everybody lol

@DavidVerch Год назад

Great watching to learn how to be a better instructor!!

@cberge8 Год назад

That is a genius way to test laser power output. May not be 100% accurate, but it's a darn good way to ballpark the power level without extremely expensive test gear.

@General12th Год назад

As Alec from Technology Connections says, energy is energy and water is water. It just works!

@liveabovethecrowd Год назад

FYI you don't need to laser power getting out the other end ~10µm laser is like 99%+ absorbed in the first 100s of microns. That being said reflections would be a consideration. Stirring is defiantly a good idea to avoid stratification. Actual laser power meters are basically ~1 emissivity black blocks that measure temp rise over a ~10 sec period and back calculate how much energy was needed to do that. Remember to defocus to avoid ablating, cutting, phase changing your water, etc!

@General12th Год назад

@@liveabovethecrowd I'll keep all this in mind next time I'm doing a laser test. Common Saturday fun times. :)

@amarissimus29 Год назад

Finger test always gets me within a few cal.

@miszcz310 Год назад

This technique is really basic and used a lot in this kind of measurements. If you have watched crankcity i think even myself I've suggested exactly this.

@minerharry Год назад

I love the gradual building to the windwaker project - glimpses of the print; then more and more obvious music; then the reveal. Great stuff

@fodonogue3 Год назад

Including Wind Walker’s intro has been the biggest positive to my week and brought back the happy parts of my childhood. Thank you.

@Muratesh Год назад

As an artist who makes woodcutting, all this video put a smile to my face to see the convergences between lasers and engraving (by the way, most methods in manual printing are made with these principles) thank you! PS: most of the imprinting method is right, just the tools really didn't help very much: the ink quantity was indeed very high at some point, it should look like you're rolling in an ink mixed with sand; we normally use a spoon ( generally wood ) doing tiny circular moves, not pressing the paper to much; and use papers with lower gramatures! ( rice papers are the best! ) Keep the good work! cheers from Brazil!

@DaveEtchells 9 месяцев назад

Ah, interesting! I figured a brayer made with hard rubber would be good, but light pressure with a hard, gently-convex object makes more sense. It also makes sense that lower gramature would be better, but that wouldn't have occurred to me either. I don't know if I'll ever make a woodcut (wood-laser?), but thanks for sharing the info; now I'm better-equipped :-)

@Pants4096 Год назад

The early Macintosh operating systems had you choose the color depth of the display by the actual number of colors: 2, 16, 256, 32678, 16777216. (Later versions changed to "thousands" and "millions") I have always had a fondness for 2^24 because of that beautiful number. Here's to many many more play buttons to come!

@barongerhardt Год назад

Windows did the same thing. For a bit they even had an option for billion of colours.

@kurtclark8560 Год назад

@@barongerhardt of course, the have have been copying the mac since the beginning (and doing a pretty bad job at that)

@barongerhardt Год назад

@@kurtclark8560 LOL, I will never understand the fangirling for an anti-competitive, anti-consumer, child slave labor producer of goods. Yup, so much better than those copycats.

@RealCadde Год назад

The early everything started using 8 bits for everything data. Sure, there were some systems that used 6 or 7 bits for data. But processors became 8 bits, those became popular processors, so using 8 bits made the most sense. And so, more and more stuff was packed into 8 bits. And to represent any color, you needed three main ones. Which were red, green and blue. And they were given 8 bits each. There were still file formats that used other bit dephts, including 6-5-6. But the CPU, RAM and everything else ran om an 8 bit wide data bus. Or later 16, 32 and 64 bit ofc. And so, pixel representations used 0-255 or 8 bits of data per channel. And yes, there's image formats that use 16 bits per channel too! Mostly for normal mapping. But there's even a monitor that can handle 16 bits per channel so a grand total of 281 trillion colors and change. As opposed to the normal 24 million and change you get on regular monitors.

@barongerhardt Год назад

@@RealCadde I think you got 6-5-6 off. 5-6-5 was one of the common 16-bit RGB layouts. The extra bit or two would go to green because green is more important for human eyesight and carries more luma for us. The other major option for the extra bit was alpha. Like 5-5-5-1 RGBA. All sorts of others exist like, indexed colour, HSV, black/white, gray scale, YUV. The even earlier stuff (70s-80s) and consoles like NES had even crazier colour modes. I believe the current standard of 24-bit (8.8.8) RGB is mostly an artifact of digital cameras and screens (LCDs). For cameras it is a decent balance between good image quality, compressed size for digital cameras, and 1 byte each RGB feels nice. (Most cameras use YCbCr420 (8-bit color, total per pixel, not per channel) For the LCD screens, I think they have to operate in distinct quanta. Where earlier CRTs intensity of a single color was a voltage.

@camd3673 Год назад

I love how you can see the laser refraction in the wood grain edge @4:00, such an interesting detail I was not at all expecting!

@AlphaPhoenixChannel Год назад

A surprise for me too!

@rbesfe Год назад

The battery analogy was super helpful, and the walkthrough at the end was great! I'll show this to anyone who asks me how lasers work now!

@Trithis2077 Год назад

I appreciate the Windwaker battle music during the kinetic energy demo, especially after seeing the finished product!

@JayTheYggdrasil Год назад

So interesting as always, I love how you try to point out where you're simplifying things and still manage to keep a good flow with your explanations. It's both impressive and appreciated.

@AlphaPhoenixChannel Год назад

I think approximations are the only way to understand weird physics intuitively, but you’ve got to know the limits! I’m glad I can try to walk that edge!

@justrotate Год назад

the Wind Waker reference and music just makes me like this channel more.

@mumblbeebee6546 Год назад

What a great description and depiction of the operating principles of a laser, and of life itself - followed by some clever craft and moments of success and pretty printing. Loved it!

@jacobbreitinger6789 Год назад

Wow, I have been watching you for years and to see this channel grow from 20k to 311k subs, just wow the pride you must have to have that many people who love to hear you, a scientist tell us about your extremely interesting studies and experiments. You truly make the field better in my opinion, I may be largely uninformed but involving the common man in most studies I think is a good thing because it builds extreme intrigue and practicality for how a complex field affect us. Years ago I didn't even know the importance of material science. Science RU-vid really rewards people like you luckily. You work hard, have awesome style(clothing and presentation wise), and break down complex topics. I am deciding my college career and have been watching you from a young age and this content has helped shape my world view when it comes to basic mechanics whether a system of machinery or just a river. More importantly my passion for what I want to do, to understand the world around me. Thank you very much Alpha Phoenix for what you do to make the world better. I apologize if I took anything you said out of context as well.

@danmartinrc Год назад

I wish I had you as a science teacher when I was in school. Your explanations make so much sense. Great to see you back on RU-vid! 👍

@johnrobholmes Год назад

Another awesome vid! I like how you spent weeks learning and applying new skills to avoid carving the block by hand. Undoubtedly spending more time avoiding the task, but learning a completely different skill set in the processes!

@andiralosh2173 Год назад

I love how you model and explain scientific understanding of processes. Keep up the good work!

@synergy021 Год назад

Your passion really adds to the fun and excitement of science education. This is good stuff, keep sharing... Thanks.

@krinklesofmadness Год назад

your explanations of physics are always capable of bringing even this layman up to speed on what’s happening and this video is no exception

@FiltyIncognito Год назад

Awesome! Both the explanation and the art. Must have been so fun for the OG laser researchers, not just working out how to most efficiently fit together all the puzzle pieces into a functional assembly, but looking for and working on the puzzle pieces themselves.

@Sinnicide Год назад

I genuinely love how you present information, Everything from laughing at your own quirks like not having props, to explaining everything in fine detail but in an understandable way! Thank you for helping me learn new things all the time Alpha!!!

@the_grand_blooms 9 месяцев назад

Love the in-depth description of the laser tube dynamics! I've worked with them for years and have always been trying to find explanations of how they work and this is the first time I feel like it's been made intuitive.

@TheMaxqb Год назад

I've been watching your videos for what feels like forever now and they never disappoint. The genuine joy all of these things brings you is so nice to see. The science is fun, too.

@blakewendland8378 Год назад

Exactly the content I love to see on RU-vid. Your channel is excellent!

@jaymeskallar699 5 месяцев назад

You have a phenomenal understanding of physics in a super intuitive way. Thank you for sharing it!

@McZambie1 Год назад

Glad you're back, and this is a really good explanation on this subject

@jakebrooks6269 Год назад

I really appreciate how you explain this stuff so well without making me feel like an idiot. I understand it way more now

@skivvy3565 5 месяцев назад

Your channel and content are some of the best top tier on RU-vid. I started with *Ben of Applied Science* and *Cody of Codyslab* (ok even Medhi and AvE) while at school. And all this time later I’m still passionate and interested because of you, how well your videos are made, how great of a presenter and teacher you are, and how fun and intriguing your projects are. I cannot thank you enough for all the joy you’ve given me over the years

@gh0stwulf863 Год назад

Amazing video! As The Wind Waker is my favorite Zelda game, I very much enjoyed this video. The explanation of lasers and your art were both incredible. Loved the usage of the Forsaken Fortress music!

@Michaelonyoutub Год назад

The windwaker intro is one of by most favourite intros of all time and that wood print looks amazing

@jtcustomknives Год назад

This is one of the best explanations of how lasers work. I have seen a lot of “how lasers work” videos but yours is by far the best.

@felipecaetano15 Год назад

When you think you night couldn't be better and then you get a notification of an Alpha Phoenix video right before going to sleep.

@massamasmas Год назад

Srrysly tho, just laid down and put on an audiobook

@Allibabo Год назад

Thank you for making these videos about different topics. They are really interesting and comprehensible!

@gameeverything816 Год назад

That was fascinating! Loved the bender figure bending the roller straight lol

@Holagrimola Год назад

Thank you soooo much for that explaination! It was so well and well explained, far better than basically any other youtuber at least of what I have seen. You have definitely earned another sub, one from me!

@SamanBahrampoor Год назад

This was such an awesome video! Even though I have a master's degree in electronics engineering, and I have studied lasers at the University and I've designed laser based medical systems for work in the past, I found this video refreshingly informative. I enjoyed every second of this video. Keep up the amazing work 😊

@ybab-j Год назад

the understanding of physics is what you’re known for but as a designer and printer i really appreciate the respect you gave the printing process, removing their defects so you could add your own organically. lovely

@dominicestebanrice7460 Год назад

The analogy and the graphics are break-through level. BRILLIANT content.

@SuperM789 Год назад

you're several powers of 2 late

@louisrobitaille5810 Год назад

I was gonna comment that 310k is closer to like 2^18 than 2^16 😅

@themightyripples6582 Год назад

This is a clever comment, nice job lol

@SuperM789 Год назад

@@themightyripples6582 i didn't even realize i made a pun until i re-read my comment after posting it lmao

@AlphaPhoenixChannel Год назад

Man I read this earlier and didn’t catch the pun… I must be slipping.

@SuperM789 Год назад

@@AlphaPhoenixChannel i didn't catch the pun either when making the comment, as i explained above

@ExonerativeKoala Год назад

Yay, I've been looking for something new from you! So fun and informative!

@matthewellisor5835 Год назад

You had a 7 and a 5 year old enthralled. Clearly, LASERs are awesome! Thank you for the best presentation of "introduction to LASER" that I've ever seen.

@lexihaley2887 Год назад

I'm pretty sure each of your videos is a stimulated emission! You are so much fun to watch and learn from, Thank you!

@Anna-ff2hn 8 месяцев назад

Your methodology of explanation is a treat. I was pleasantly surprised how easily I understood this as someone with zero prior knowledge of this other than the fact that laser cutting & wood-burning exist.

@nonsequitor Год назад

Thank you so much man! Your videos are amongst the best on planet earth. You're up there with the few internationally acclaimed scientists we're lucky enough to be able to learn from on YT. Can't underline it enough. And that's why the channel is growing.

@gytisatmanavicius689 Год назад

You are definitely talented in explaining complex topics in a simple way, and also being entertaining whilst doing so. Good style good knowledge good skill. Cool laser, it's almost infinite possibilities that you could do with that thing. And these legends of zelda scriptures look like someone would pay a good buck for. :)

@mattfojtik7130 Год назад

I was just thinking earlier today "I wonder if I'm still subscribed to AlphaPhoenix" since I realized I hadn't seen one of your videos in a while. And here you are! Welcome back!

@unvergebeneid Год назад

Given that in modern physics, pretty much everything is on some level a mass on a spring, I'd like to postulate that modern physics was only made possible by the invention of the spring.

@bowieinc Год назад

This video is at the perfect level. It’s above my head but with a stretch, I can just grasp.

@Sir_Uncle_Ned Год назад

I think that explanation actually made me understand the process of making laser light. Thanks!

@nobody2.076 Год назад

This is one of zhe best videos I've seen in a while! Thanks

@jasonpatterson8091 Год назад

Excellent video! I've been watching since your 2^12 video! Best of luck hitting 2^20 this year!!!

@literallykey3298 Год назад

Man, this is a really good video. Made me excited about physics again since it was done in a really good way (been fighting brain fog/long covid so its often just frustrating when I try to learn things), although now I also need to fight the urge to get or make a cnc laser. The only things I think might have been missing are covering how the light is collected so it can be focused to a point and a link to buy or files to make that art (which looks absolutely awesome).

@Ramboforever Год назад

"Unreasonably complicated shenanigans" 0:29 Made my day 😂 I had watched a few of your videos, but in only this I recognised how much different skills you obtain or at least in how much different fields you try yourself. You've got my deepest respect.

@john91051 Год назад

You're an absolute genius. And the way you explain is incredible.

@minerharry Год назад

I don’t know why but this has wonderful bill nye energy and I love it

@mmhmnms Год назад

the "MASS ON A SPRING" makes me unreasonably happy

@logicVSpassion Год назад

Your attitude is amazing! Love you sooooo much more that veritasium

@clintcoppieters2173 Год назад

Comprehensive explanations and good analogies used. I learned a lot. Good job bro.

@skyrailmaxima Год назад

I love the Zelda Windwaker subtle additions in this vid

@DavidVerch Год назад

We have a pile of fun watching your videos !

@lewismassie Год назад

I learnt a little about bending modes when learning about FTIR machines in uni. So once you brought up the bending modes it all snapped together in my head at once.

@emilyrln Год назад

Absolutely fascinating! You're truly gifted at explaining things ❤

@General12th Год назад

This was an INCREDIBLE way of explaining population inversions! I am SO HAPPY I clicked on this video! :D:D:D

@klq9386 Год назад

Knew what a laser was but never understood the how. The analogy was perfect. Thanks for making it make so much more sense.

@mozkitolife5437 Год назад

Frickin’ love your work and energy haha

@liseguy Год назад

That was amazing! By far the most brilliant explanation of Lasers I've head in my 50 years.

@lodewykk Год назад

Why is this the first explanation of laser light I’ve ever come across that I understand 😢 I’ve known the basics for over 20 years now …

@palpytine Год назад

Okay, the bender gag is worth an automatic upvote even if you weren't going to get one anyway

@ranenelemson8547 Год назад

This is an impressive vid, it's obvious lasers are something you put lots of thought and effort into. It was educational and intuitive. Me and my other 9 accounts really liked it.

@Frrk Год назад

That explanation was just excellent! Thanks for all the videos.

@EyesEarsandBrainEngaged Год назад

Brilliantly explained and illustrated.

@kaosz7777 Год назад

Wow this was a SICK video. Amazing!! also love that WindWaker reference

@andynz7 Год назад

That's the most amazing explanation of gas lasers! And love the woodcuts :)

@gregorysember2164 Год назад

Oh man what a nostalgia trip matched with some amazing knowledge.

@kingdavid99887766554 Год назад

insanely fascinating, and explained quite simply. Kudos, my man

@andersons9007 4 месяца назад

Fascinating subject with a very captivating explanation.

@jonastjepkema Год назад

Little heckle about the files ;) i really love your content, your are one of the youtubers fromwhich I most anticipate releases!

@Cketzalcoatl Год назад

Ah, good old FIJI. AKA, the Engineer's version of Paint. Love your channel man, good to have you back!

@phillupson8561 Год назад

Physics is fun, and thanks for an awesome explanation on lasers, loved it!

@thatravendude Год назад

Top notch video. Best description of laser physics I've seen.

@viniciusnoyoutube Год назад

The best explanation about laser I have ever heard.

@smagnusen Год назад

Awesome awesomee video. Best layman explanation of lasers I've heard. Subbed.

@AlaskaSkidood Год назад

13:25 Just casually blowing my mind with an easy to understand definition and explanation for the reason or quantum physics. Great video, keep up the good work!

@mattheww9656 Год назад

Great 20 mins of explanation - that was a helpful way to better under the physics.

@Benjamin_Reese Год назад

That was a great description of how the CO2 laser works. Thanks.

@arseniix Год назад

One of the best youtubers out there, hats off

@Arrowed_Sparrow 6 месяцев назад

Dude... This is easily the best explanation of how a laser works I've ever seen. *Also, the key concepts thing that RU-vid is doing is frickin awesome.

@soniclab-cnc Год назад

Actually not a bad explanation lol. I built myself a big 130 watt laser and had to learn the whole process. I watched every video on laser emission and laser cutters I could find and still learned something from yours.

@s1ugh34d Год назад

This was the "How a CO2 laser actually works" video I have been looking for. Love the metaphors, "Mass on a spring" sounds like a good bungee jumping company name.

@skoy21 Год назад

This was an exiting mix of education and art!

@smh988 Год назад

This is one of the most comprehensive explanations that can be easily absorbed ;-]

@theyoutubeguy1545 9 месяцев назад

Thank you. I finally understand CO2 lasers. You don’t make the mistake so many other RU-vidrs make when attempting to teach or inform us about different concepts in sciences, methods or processes, they forget that we’re not scientists and get highly technical. Maybe it’s proof of the extent of their knowledge or to sound professional, but to sit and explain something using terminologies you would have to of learned by studying to be a scientist. That doesn’t help people who have not.

@party4lifedude Год назад

The way the amplifier tube works is genius. Lasers are already fascinating enough, but this is amazing.

@MrHichammohsen1 Год назад

The over simplification in explaining the laser is awesome! Its like having a gravity model that explains 99% of what we see, which is extremely powerful and enough to go to the moon.

@Veptis 4 месяца назад

Hearing "really deep dive" during the introduction had me excited.

@FakeMichau Год назад

I was a little worried after that series on uninteresting videos. Glad to see you back

@insanospaz Год назад

Been around since something with thermite(?) and it has been absolutely wild to see you progress with this channel and your knowledge on stuff to do random experiments/proofs on. Congrats on passing the 300k mark and hope to see that half mil

@omartechnologies Год назад

My kids are in love with link and legend of Zelda in general. Gonna trick them to see this video so they learn about lasers... Thanks for the great content. And congratulations on the 16th power.