Another Physics question.

[edro]

How can light travel through "clear" objects, like glass and clear plastic, but get stopped by dark tinted objects?

I know that darker colors absorb more light, but that doesn't make sense to me.

How can pigment effect photons on a Plank-length level?

 

[TuxDave]

How do we define pigment? By the color that it reflects. So it's not that pigments determine what happens to photons, but its the result of its interaction with photons that determine it pigment. That clear glass is clear in our visible light spectrum, but it may not be "clear" in other frequencies. The same goes for our pigments. If our eyes could somehow see x-rays, then that 'dark' thing may indeed be clear.

 

[edro]

A similar method, called quenching, is used with plastics to make them transparent or translucent. Quenching causes the polymers (long-chain molecules) in the plastic to settle into a random pattern that allows light to pass through. You can even use this process with organic substances. Clear or translucent candy is created by heating the ingredients of the recipe and then rapidly cooling them.

Notice that clear glass, clear plastic and clear candy are all solids that are melted and then cooled. Same process!

Hmmm.... well that explains the plastic question.

I am guessing that pigment "fills" in the holes, so light can't pass?

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: edro13

A similar method, called quenching, is used with plastics to make them transparent or translucent. Quenching causes the polymers (long-chain molecules) in the plastic to settle into a random pattern that allows light to pass through. You can even use this process with organic substances. Clear or translucent candy is created by heating the ingredients of the recipe and then rapidly cooling them.

Notice that clear glass, clear plastic and clear candy are all solids that are melted and then cooled. Same process!

Hmmm.... well that explains the plastic question.

I am guessing that pigment "fills" in the holes, so light can't pass?

no, each color has a different frequency, we can only see a small range of them......

 

[edro]

I am talking about photons passing through transluscent objects, not reflection. Or are they the same thing?

Like, what makes a piece of clear glass, allow a light source to pass through it, yet a black piece of glass, doesn't allow any light to pass?

 

[TuxDave]

Originally posted by: edro13
I am talking about photons passing through transluscent objects, not reflection. Or are they the same thing?

Like, what makes a piece of clear glass, allow a light source to pass through it, yet a black piece of glass, doesn't allow any light to pass?

Same philosophy. That dark piece of glass contains something that absorbs frequencies within our visible spectrum. That is why we call it dark. However if our eyes could generally see x-ray frequencies, it would look crystal clear.

Edit: Forgot to add, so what determines what qualities it has. Depending on the frequency, the electrons in the object will either absorb the photons, re-emit it, or simply not be able to absorb the photons at all. You'll get three possible results: opaque, reflection/flourensence, and finally transparent.

 

[Gibson486]

black = absence of light.

So, if it has no light, it cannot be refracted....

Light is also known as an energy packet (acts as heat source).

So, if we shine a weak light through a dark glass, it will not have enough energy to go through (it is absorbed).

 

[Heisenberg]

Originally posted by: edro13
I am talking about photons passing through transluscent objects, not reflection. Or are they the same thing?

Like, what makes a piece of clear glass, allow a light source to pass through it, yet a black piece of glass, doesn't allow any light to pass?

Color absorption depends on which frequencies of visible light a material absorbs. This selective absorbtion is based on which energies the atoms/molecules of the material absorbs. If a material has atoms that have a resonance in the red end of the spectrum, the red light will be absorbed and the blue/green part will be transmitted, so the material will appear blue/green.

 

[TuxDave]

Originally posted by: Gibson486
black = absence of light.

So, if it has no light, it cannot be refracted....

Light is also known as an energy packet (acts as heat source).

So, if we shine a weak light through a dark glass, it will not have enough energy to go through (it is absorbed).

The energy of a photon is not determined by a light's 'brightness' but by its frequency. 'brightness' or 'intensity' is determined by the number of photons. The ability for a material to absorb or to pass through light is determined the light's frequency and not by its brightness.

 

[edro]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg

Originally posted by: edro13
I am talking about photons passing through transluscent objects, not reflection. Or are they the same thing?

Like, what makes a piece of clear glass, allow a light source to pass through it, yet a black piece of glass, doesn't allow any light to pass?

Color absorption depends on which frequencies of visible light a material absorbs. This selective absorbtion is based on which energies the atoms/molecules of the material absorbs. If a material has atoms that have a resonance in the red end of the spectrum, the red light will be absorbed and the blue/green part will be transmitted, so the material will appear blue/green.

I guess you, of all people, should know what the hell you are talking about. I mean damn... you are the father of Quantum Mechanics... 🙂