Laser Level

[paulwd]

Not a lot of application in the real world but I was wondering is, does the beam emitted by a laser level follow the curvature of the earth or if strong enough would it get higher from ground level the further it travelled from the source. I tend to think it would follow the curvature of the earth due to gravity but happy to be told otherwise (if true) Thanks

[juan king]

no it will not follow the curvature.

[Simpo Two]

You need an awful lot of gravity to bend light.

Escape velocity of Earth: approx 17,000mph
Speed of light: 186,000 miles per second.
Win to light.

[Ross1988]

Nope. No even close. As the range is tiny!

[Simpo Two]

Ross1988 said:

Nope. No even close. As the range is tiny!

www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?h=0&f=219&t=1203814&mid=15671&nmt=How+to+illuminate+the+Moon%2C+from+the+Earth!

But 'range' is another issue anyway.

[paranoid airbag]

You can find bodies where the light will bend enough to follow its curvature.

But they're called BLACK HOLES the light on earth will bend but only a tiny bit, not noticeably by a long way.

[Ross1988]

Simpo Two said:

www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?h=0&f=21...

But 'range' is another issue anyway.

Ah thought he meant a http://www.yorksurvey.co.uk/instruments/laser-leve... not proper laser pointer?

But thanks for the link Simpo, cracking website that laser moon one.

[paulwd]

Thanks people I'll stop thinking about that now.

[Antony Moxey]

So the extension on the back of your house doesn't line up and you're blaming the laser level following the curvature of the earth (or not) as to why the kitchen now has a step in it aren't you?

[davepoth]

Antony Moxey said:

So the extension on the back of your house doesn't line up and you're blaming the laser level following the curvature of the earth (or not) as to why the kitchen now has a step in it aren't you?

"I can't help it if the laser level is bent dear; it's SCIENCE."