Lasers!!!

The highlight of today involved lasers. The (awesome) quantum chemistry professor at my university let a few of us burn things like paper and our hands. One guy walked through the path of the beam in hopes of a souvenir on his shirt--there were a few pale spots, but nothing impressive. Managed to get in a few pictures, but it was difficult since I obviously couldn't use a flash. Since pretty colors are the reason I'm a chemist, here's a shot of Raman scattering (Nd:YAG laser).


See? This is why I'm having so much trouble picking a concentration. Things turn pretty colors in organic chemistry (well, if you're in the right lab they do), and ether smells wonderful. But part of me is a little paranoid I'm being lied to if I don't see an equation...and let's face it, most organikers eschew equations as much as possible. And part of me just really wants to play with lasers.