Quote from an adult ahead of me on line at the grocery store.
What’s the heat spread (temperature) on an object passing under a scanner gun, or, as is more commin in supermarkets, over the glass patten?
(Patten? Izzat the word?)
Well, if you really amp up the power on the scanners lasers…
Nope. The person ahead of you is too stupid to be shopping alone.
Platen.
The laser itself is extremely low-powered. I’m sure the overhead lights are contributing more heat than the scanning laser.
In something of a defense of the person in line, though: when I used to work as a cashier (20 years ago), the horizontal glass-covered scanners did maintain a temperature above the ambient air temperature. Probably waste heat from the electronics inside. Of course, I’m still only talking about 80 F or something like that - just a little warmer than the counter around it. Not exactly a danger to a chocolate bar unless you leave it there overnight.
If you mother says don’t do it
do you leave there in spite?
I did a stint as a cashier in the mid/late 80s and I think the reason that the laser scanner was warmer than the rest of the register area was because the laser was being spun by a pretty large and/or inefficient electric motor. It was motion activated and you could hear it spin up when you went to scan the first item. It was pretty much self-contained and I never cared enough (I was a teen after all) to look, but loud electric motors tend to have other inefficiencies like giving off heat. Generally the metal plate around the glass would feel warmer than the glass itself.
The one I just used in the self checkout lane? Nope, no melting unless there was something wrong with the AC.
You mean they don’t use military grade lasers in supermarket scanners?
OK, quick poll, how many people got this reference (without looking it up)? Hint: a pop song from around 1960.
I did, by the way.
The second line is “Do you swallow it in spite?”
Dammit, I was about to post just that!! Shakes fist in impotent rage!!
Can you catch it on your tonsils and heave it left and right
No hints needed. I still know all the lyrics.
I got it.
Chocolate on a paten: http://i.imgur.com/bey1nI5.jpg
Chocate in a chasuble on a paten: http://i.imgur.com/AOObs62.jpg
I didn’t. Hint?
I never knew it as a pop song (I never knew the 60s, either), but I do know that song as a kids’ song.
Does your Chewing Gum Lose its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight
Actual smart guy shows up, totally ignore OP. Figures.
[whimper whimper] … tell us tell us …
Really small. I put my hand on one in a convenience store today (no additional charge!) and couldn’t detect any temperature different from ambient.