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Edited by Lance: 1/4/2016 8:43:16 AM
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Does a lightsaber weigh anything? *TFA SPOILERS*

I started thinking because I can't sleep. The blade, I mean, the hilt obviously has to weigh something. Cause it's in the name, right? [u]Light[/u]-saber. Light doesn't weigh anything(or its mass is so little that it really doesn't matter). Then I remembered hearing that the blade is superheated plasma or something, does that have a significant weight to it? I see Obi-Wan and Anakin fight in episode 3 and they move so fast I assume their weapons are weightless. Now Kylo Ren fights Rey in TFA, his swings look pretty heavy. Or at least it looks like he puts a little power behind them. [i]And then[/i] I remember hearing that the blades weren't entirely special effects in the movie. They were physical and lit up about as bright as they are on-screen, on set. So maybe his swings look that way because the [i]prop[/i] is heavy-ish? Someone help.

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  • Can you imagine how weird a light saber is? Your literally swinging around a hilt, and someone else swinging it can block your hilt. Weird

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  • Op has violated the [url=http://tr-8r.com]Code of Loyalty[/url] and was met with Traitor Justice

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  • The only thing that weighs is the hilt

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  • Because light acts as a wave and a particle, the particle must have mass, giving it weight, no matter how minute it is. Practically, yes, in theory the blades are weightless, until they come into contact with something that slows or halts their momentum. Technically, no, they are not entirely weightless. [spoiler]I think that's how light works...[/spoiler]

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  • Well light is both a wave and a particle, light is affected by gravity therefore it has mass, infinitely minute but mass none the less. That which has mass can have weight, so yes lightsabers weigh something. Oh let's not discuss the cylinder of metals and electronics that power the blade because obviously that weighs something.

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  • I hope the have some weight to them. Something so dangerous to the user shouldn't be so light that you could cut your limbs off in the blink of an eye. In the movie kylo does swing it like a full weight sword, though.

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  • The only question I have about star wars is[spoiler]HOW THE HELL DOES KYLO REN FIT ALL OF THAT HAIR IN HIS HELMET[/spoiler]

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    • Plasma weighs so little that it wouldn't make any difference. As in less than 1 x 10^-1000

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    • Weighs as much as the hilt since plasma weighs nothing. Also, is the gyroscopic effect still a thing with disney star wars?

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      • It weighs as much as the hilt weighs. The blade weighs nothing as plasma has no weight

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        • The blade has no weight at all.

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        • Edited by U124926: 1/4/2016 6:17:10 PM
          No the blades are plasma and therefor basically weightless. Which makes Rey and Finn's immediate competent use with one particularly silly considering how unintuitive that is. As a test, take a flashlight, and swing it around like a lightsaber, and see how long it is before you accidentally touch yourself with the beam.

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          • Ren'sswings probably looked heavy because he had just tanked a shot from chewy's crossbow laser thing.

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            • Edited by Smarkdow: 1/5/2016 12:21:19 AM
              To answer from a production standpoint, for the original trilogy, Lucas intended for lightsabers to have a bit of weight to them, or at least function like real-life swords. The actual props were heavy, which is why the fights were more like fencing matches as opposed to the overly choreographed, emotionless light shows depicted in the prequels. Force Awakens harkens back to the OT in this regard.

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              • Because the blade is made of light, it has no weight. The hilt is too small to make a substantial difference in the weight of the weapon. Which is why they are so hard to would. Imagine trying to swing the weapon, when the weapon practically has no weight.

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                • Well apparently now lightsabers are weak af, if they should weigh anything then it'd be incredibly tiny -just the blade itself - kylo ren was in the perfect place to cut Finn in half and yet it only left him unconscious, rey was the perfect close range to slice rens head off and yet if only left him with a scar...

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                  • The hilt does. The blade does not. It does have something complicate and sciencey that makes it hard to swing and require a lot of strength and dexterity to use effectively, and momentum is a big part of using one effectively

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                    • On the subject of kylo ren thing and his 200 lb sword. Earlier in the movie he got shot in the side by chewies blaster. When he is hitting his side, he is in extreme pain, therefore it would be extremely hard to swing a light saber that fast.

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                      • According to George Lucas originally lightsabers were extremely heavy, needed to be held with two hands and the fights with them were supposed to be slower paced... but he decided that was boring after episode 4 and decided that they were very light only as heavy as the metal that makes up the handle.

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                        • Well this [i]is[/i] a movie, so they can do anything they want. But what happens when something that weighs nothing moves? Look at the equation f=ma. If m=0 than no matter what a is, f will be zero. Idk if that helps, but here you go.

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                          • The blade is made of superheated, magnetically-contained plasma. So while it has some weight, it's a negligible amount, not enough for a person to notice. Now, as to the movement speeds, remember. Anakin, Obi-Wan, and the rest of the Jedi in the prequel trilogy are trained in classical Jedi saber combat/Sith saber combat. Kylo Ren and Rey have no such training. To put it in perspective, have you ever watched German fencing? Those suckers make a zweihander DANCE. Fast, precise, and make it look like it weighs near nothing. Now, if I were to give some random Joe Schmoe off the street a zweihander, his swings would be a lot bigger, bulkier, slower. So that's a part of it. Also, Kylo's fighting style is much more akin to a berserker, and, if anything, channels the spirit of Shien. Overpower your opponent on raw physicality.

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                          • The hilt weighs some but the blade weighs nothing

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                          • You obviously don't pay attention in the movies do you?

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                            • Don't ask for an explanation from a star wars fan! They don't like explanations! They get really really mad if you try to come up with one. Simply fall in line with the rest of the star wars fandom and accept that a space wizard did it.

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                            • Ren's saber is unstable and weak. You saw how the laser was crackling. I assume it was difficult because he is trying to control something he did not even harness completely in the first place.

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                              • Look at Luke in the 6th movie When he finally fights darth Vader His swings look heavy or maybe weak??

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