Um raio trator puxa as coisas, um raio repulsor empurra as coisas.
Parece que o termo "raio trator" evoluiu a partir do termo "feixe de atrito", o que sugere claramente que o feixe é usado para puxar um objeto para outro.
A tractor beam is a device with the ability to attract one object to another from a distance. The concept originates in fiction: the term was coined by E. E. Smith (an update of his earlier "attractor beam") in his novel Spacehounds of IPC (1931).
- Wikipedia
A palavra "trator" em si foi originalmente concebida para descrever o ato de puxar algo, não empurrá-lo. É derivado da palavra latina trahō , que significa "arrastar" . A mesma palavra raiz, trahō , é a fonte de nossas palavras "arrastar", "desenhar [para]" e "rastrear [isto é, seguir]".
Embora existam feixes similares usados para empurrar objetos, eles são tecnicamente chamados de "feixes repulsores" ou "feixes de pressão":
Less commonly, a similar beam that repels is called a pressor beam or repulsor beam. Gravity impulse and gravity propulsion beams are traditionally areas of research from fringe physics that coincide with the concepts of tractor and repulsor beams.
- Wikipedia
No universo de Star Wars , essas regras parecem se aplicar - se um raio puxa as coisas, é um raio trator ; se empurrar as coisas, é um feixe repulsor .
Dos links para o Wookieepedia acima:
Tractor Beam: A tractor beam was a projected force-field used by spaceports, planetary bases, space stations, and starships to effectively grasp and guide vessels to a safe designated landing. They could also be used to forcibly capture enemy ships. The first Death Star was equipped with 768 tractor beam generators, enabling it to constrain ships such as the Millennium Falcon with ease.
Repulsor Beam: A repulsor beam was a focused energy beam that the Verpine used to prevent collisions between their colony asteroids and space debris. They created a repulsorfield shell; when two shells came in contact they ricocheted harmless away from each other.