Forum:Wouldn't the Spartan Laser sound like a lightning strike?

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It's always been a random thought of mine. I didn't really have anywhere to place this thought, so forgive me if this seems a bit out of place for these forums. The Spartan Laser (or any of the UNSC laser weapons) produces a large, superheated beam with enough energy to punch holes through vehicles. I think Bungie's and 343's ideas of what these laser weapons should sound like is a bit off. A lightning strike is a great example, since it shares many of the same properties. They both have a long, slender pulse of energy that would violently displace the air all around its length. The man-portable Spartan Laser might not produce as much energy as a lightning strike, so it might be quieter, but it would still have many of the same sound properties. However, I do remember at least in Halo 3 that a Spartan Laser in the distance would sound like a deep, muffled "whoosh"; similar to thunder in the distance. But in first person or in close proximity, the Spartan Laser still just sounds like a very sci-fi "pchow!" noise as opposed to a thunderclap. I do understand why it was done this way, though. It is a sci-fi game at its core, so a more traditional sci-fi sound is to be expected. And I guess they wanted to differentiate it from the myriad of UNSC ballistic weapons and give it more of a "high-tech", energy weapon sound.--FluffyEmoPenguin^{(ice quack!)} 21:05, 29 July 2014 (EDT)

A lightning strike is a little different from a laser. Lightning is electricity, composed of electrons; more specifically, it is an electrical arc, similar to static electricity or the electrical arcing produced when you turn any switch on. It travels to either another conductor (one with less electrons) or an electrical ground. This produces a sound anywhere from a small pop to the loud booms of thunder, dependent on how much electrical current is transferred and at what voltage it is transferred.

A laser is, like all light, composed of photons. In a laser, they are charged with a lot of energy. Not sure what sound light would make as it travels and destroys things; the only sound that would probably be heard would be the sound of whatever is amplifying the light. Smoke^{Sound off!} 09:30, 3 August 2014 (EDT)

Well, the main reason a lightning strike makes the sound it does is because of the fact that it rapidly heats the air with its energy, and that air is violently displaced (hence, the boom). My reasoning is that if a laser is strong enough to cause damage to heavy armor, it should produce a very similar effect upon the air. A strong laser would heat up the air that passes through it/it passes through, and cause a similar boom. The only difference, I think, would depend on how photons interact with a gas like the atmosphere as opposed to how it obviously reacts to solid matter (i.e. vehicle armor).--FluffyEmoPenguin^{(ice quack!)} 17:59, 3 August 2014 (EDT)