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If I smelled a gas leak in my kitchen and the lights didn't work, I could use a lightsaber as a light source. But the kitchen explodes as soon as I turn it on.

Does anything bad happen like this? Are there any booby traps that knock out a Jedi as soon as he turns on his lightsaber?

Gallifreyan
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Jesvin Jose
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    “But the kitchen explodes as soon as I turn it on.” [citation needed] – Paul D. Waite May 17 '17 at 11:03
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    @PaulD.Waite http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/what-sparks-lpg-accidents/article5372757.ece lighting a stove or using a light switch can ignite leaked gas. – Jesvin Jose May 17 '17 at 11:08
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    @aitchnyu But can a plasma field do that too? The Star Wars Wikia calls it "a state of matter with unique electromagnetic properties". It might, but it's an assumption on your part. – tobiasvl May 17 '17 at 11:57
  • @tobiasvl Would you disagree its a hot plasma that can ignite stuff? – Jesvin Jose May 17 '17 at 12:14
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    @aitchnyu I have no idea whether or not it can ignite stuff. Perhaps a separate question is in order. – tobiasvl May 17 '17 at 12:24
  • @aitchnyu: and if a lightsaber was a stove lighter or a light switch, that would totally be a citation. – Paul D. Waite May 17 '17 at 13:00
  • Isn't it the heat that ignites the gas, no matter the device? And since a plasma blade is extremely hot, I would say powering up a lightsaber surely blows up your kitchen. – Essen May 17 '17 at 14:35
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    It's specifically the electrical spark that occurs, just as an ordinary spark or naked flame would set it off. If a lightsaber were already on when the Jedi entered the room, I don't think it would cause ignition. However, if a Jedi were to hit the button and.... draw? start? shwoom? their lightsaber after entering the room, the electronics in the hilt may well make the kitchen go BANG – DisturbedNeo May 17 '17 at 15:34
  • Related - https://scifi.stackexchange.com/q/147189/75000 – DCOPTimDowd May 17 '17 at 15:35
  • I believe that the lightsaber can ignite the gas, pre-activated or not (prior to entry into the room). Due to the state of the magnetic field, the closeness the lightsaber would need to have may be debatable, but once the gas permeates the magnetic field... for sure, you are in trouble. It is plasma, after all. Well beyond the flashpoint of any gas. and @DisturbedNeo, the lightsaber uses a laser-crystal matrix to create the plasma if I have studied my books correctly. – Photo Voltaeic May 18 '17 at 11:14
  • I'd be inclined to say the answer is no. Remember, a lightsaber blade is a superconducting energy loop within some sort of containment field. The blade emits no radiant heat, so it's likely that there would be no electrical spark as well. – Bob May 24 '17 at 14:38
  • @Bob but it does melt stuff that it touches (metal), a lightsaber rather quickly melted away several layers of reinforced metal doors, and it's so hot that it instantly closes any wounds it makes. I'm fairly sure touching a cloud of gas would be enough to set it off. It doesn't need to radiate anything – Petersaber Jun 17 '17 at 07:56
  • @Petersaber Okay, fair point. I didn’t think about particles of gas coming into physical contact with the plasma. I hereby upgrade my answer from “no” to “I don’t know” :) – Bob Jun 17 '17 at 08:58

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I could not find a specific example in Canon or Legends to suggest that there has been a booby trap designed to activate based upon a lightsaber, though there are examples in the Canon of people leaving booby traps specifically for Jedi:

  • In SWTCW S02E21 "R2 Come Home", Boba Fett booby traps his father Jango's helmet with an explosive to try and kill Mace Windu in the wreckage of the Star Destroyer Endurance (after it has crashed on Vanqor). A Youtube clip of it can be seen here

  • In SWTCW S02E01 "Holocron Heist", when Cad Bane booby traps TODO and sends him to kill the Jedi in/blow up the Communications Center

As per the example in the OP's question, lightsabers are quite likely to ignite flammable gases as is discussed in this thread. While I cannot find an example of a trap specifically tied to a lightsaber, there is one example of a booby trap that is similar to the scenario in the OP's question that would be triggered by a lightsaber. In Timothy Zahn's 2013 novel Scoundrels, there is mention of something called a honey trap in Chapter 4:

“What could be a problem is if the plating is honey-trapped,” Bink warned. “Even something that thin has plenty of depth to work with.”

“What’s a honey trap?” Eanjer asked.

“Honeycomb-style booby traps,” Bink explained. “You put pockets of explosives, acid, or pressurized poison gas inside your walls so that whoever’s behind the cutting torch gets a lethal surprise halfway in.”

“It’s all the rage among the better class of paranoid criminal bosses,” Dozer added dryly.

Since honey traps are designed to ignite/release upon contact with a cutting tool, and lightsabers have been used as cutting tools, that would be one scenario where a lightsaber could trigger a booby trap, though it is not mentioned that it was specifically designed for lightsabers.

On a side note, it is mentioned that lightsabers themselves can have booby traps in them.

Phyneas
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