Lazer effect.

[Bughuggger]

Bought a tiny lazer and put it against the curved surface of a plastic hanger.
It made an entire circle on the wall behind it, but the dot of lazer which went
beyond the hanger was on the perimeter of the circle, not in the middle as I
would suspect. What could this be? Is light in this case different?

Bughuggger@aol.com

 

[xxx]

In message <20040401225019.04398.00000544@mb-m05.aol.com>, Bughuggger
<bughuggger@aol.com> writes

Bought a tiny lazer and put it against the curved surface of a plastic hanger.
It made an entire circle on the wall behind it, but the dot of lazer which went
beyond the hanger was on the perimeter of the circle, not in the middle as I
would suspect. What could this be? Is light in this case different?

Would this be Light Amplification by Ztimulated Emission of Radiation?

I think the answer to your question is diffraction.
--
Graham