Recent content by Saibottomus

Thanks for your reply mfb. So if (hypothetically) the "brightness" (somehow) fell off with the square of the distance of the observer from the source, what would that reduce the range to?

Sorry my question was poorly worded. To clarify a few things and reword the question: Assume the brightness of the laser pointer (1mW red laser equivalent at the source), falls off with the square of the distance. At approximately what distance would the laser not be detectable if shone directly...

Hello PF! I've got a strange question for you physics boffins; assuming for a moment that lasers obeyed the inverse square law, what range would a typical 1mW red laser have in the atmosphere?