JohannesGunn Posted November 24, 2010 Share Posted November 24, 2010 (edited) To get back on topic...@Akerick: The shoulder-mounted weapons in most of the movies, and the one that was modified into a handgun, appear to be plasma-based, primarily copper plasma judging by the color. Plasma weapons work (theoretically) by exciting molecules into a high-energy state, either by nuclear fusion, electrical charging, or some other heretofore-undiscovered method. However, for plasma weapons to work effectively in atmosphere without excessive energy bleed (think turning everything even CLOSE to the path of the energy blast into charcoal), you must create a "path" for the plasma by ionizing the air between the target and the weapon. This can most easily be done with a laser "initiator", in the following manner: Laser fires, ionizing the atmosphere between the laser emitter and the target. Plasma is "fired". Because lasers are line-of-sight weapons, when the plasma is "fired" ( a closer descriptive term would be "ejected") it follows a least-time course to the target, and because plasma is basically a large glob of highly charged particles, most (something like 94.7 percent) of the plasma and energy bloom follows the ionization trail left by the laser to directly impact on whatever portion of the target's anatomy unfortunate enough to be in the way. Sorry to enter professor mode like that, but I thought you'd all be interested in the mechanics of RL plasma weapons. Edited November 24, 2010 by JohannesGunn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts