Video Transcript
The scientific term for the part of
the laser that contains the active medium as well as the two reflective surfaces is
blank. (A) The energy source, (B) the
laser gas, (C) the resonant cavity, or (D) the laser ray.
In order to answer this question,
we first need to remember the definition of a laser, as well as the parts it’s made
from.
Lasers allow us to use the photons
emitted during electron transitions to produce beams of light. Lasers are made of three main
components: the active medium, the energy source, and the resonant cavity. The active medium is a material
composed of atoms, which provide the electrons needed to emit photons. The active medium can be a solid, a
liquid, or a gas, like helium and neon.
The energy source provides the
energy necessary for the electrons in the active medium to transition from the
ground state to the excited state. Once an electron has been excited,
it can then emit a photon, which becomes part of the laser beam.
The final part, a resonant cavity,
consists of mirrors placed on each side of the active medium. The mirrors reflect photons back
and forth through the active medium to amplify the laser light into a beam.
Therefore, we’ve seen that it is
the resonant cavity that contains the active medium, as well as the two reflective
surfaces. So, the correct answer is option
(C), the resonant cavity.
