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How does transparency work, scientifically?

R

RapidSnail

Diamond Member
I've always wondered how any substance can be transparent. When we get down to the microscopic level, it is clear that all matter is composed of individual atoms. Now I do not have as much scientific understanding as many of you, but how can light penetrate a substance such as air or glass so completely that we can see through them with almost perfect clarity? Moreover, how is transparency even possible? I'd imagine that it "should" appear to be seeping through a substance rather than passing through practically undistorted due to interference on the atomic level.
 
Originally posted by: SSSnail
My guess is that it has something to do with the density of the molecular structure?
Click to expand...

Light passes through air. It also passes through diamond and glass.
But it doesn't pass well through styrofoam.
 
Originally posted by: Jeff7
Originally posted by: SSSnail
My guess is that it has something to do with the density of the molecular structure?
Click to expand...

Light passes through air. It also passes through diamond and glass.
But it doesn't pass well through styrofoam.
Click to expand...

What about super duper thin styrofoam?
 
Originally posted by: RapidSnail
I've always wondered how any substance can be transparent. When we get down to the microscopic level, it is clear that all matter is composed of individual atoms. Now I do not have as much scientific understanding as many of you, but how can light penetrate a substance such as air or glass so completely that we can see through them with almost perfect clarity? Moreover, how is transparency even possible? I'd imagine that it "should" appear to be seeping through a substance rather than passing through practically undistorted due to interference on the atomic level.
Click to expand...

God made it that way so it must work.
😛 LOL
 
Originally posted by: benliong
It's all about the Alpha value.

Just kidding, couldn't resist. 😉
Click to expand...

You know, the first thing that popped into my head was the alpha channel 🙂
 
I used to wonder about transparency too

imagine if empty space didn't "appear" black. what if instead of infinite blackness, you perceived infinite transparency ?

can you even imagine infinite transparency ?
 
I am not 100% sure, but I'll give it a go. You see, the actual size of the parts of an atom (electrons + nucleus) is TINY, the area is mostly 99.999% free space between these particles. In substances that absord light the difference in energies between two orbitals in the atoms is close the the visible spectum, so the incoming radiation is absorbed by an electron (they don't actually touch, just interact), and then boosts the electron up a level, when it falls back down it might rlease this energy as heat, or as light reflected back. In a transparent medium the energies which are absorbed by the electrons are not in the same frequency as visible light, so the light is not caputured as passes through easily.
 
Originally posted by: BrownTown
I am not 100% sure, but I'll give it a go. You see, the actual size of the parts of an atom (electrons + nucleus) is TINY, the area is mostly 99.999% free space between these particles. In substances that absord light the difference in energies between two orbitals in the atoms is close the the visible spectum, so the incoming radiation is absorbed by an electron (they don't actually touch, just interact), and then boosts the electron up a level, when it falls back down it might rlease this energy as heat, or as light reflected back. In a transparent medium the energies which are absorbed by the electrons are not in the same frequency as visible light, so the light is not caputured as passes through easily.
Click to expand...

This is pretty much it.

Light interacts with electrons very easily. Electrons absorb radiation quite well, but only if they "can". If there is an electron sitting in an orbital with an particular energy and an associated gap to another energy level corresponding to a green photon, then that electron will absorb green photons and thus green light will be blocked. Transparent materials like glass have a very large band gap (ie no electrons) around the visible spectrum and thus do not interact with visible radiation much at all. Transparent materials are most certainly opaque at other wavelengths, and optically opaque materials may be transparent in other regions of the spectrum.
 
Originally posted by: BrownTown
I am not 100% sure, but I'll give it a go. You see, the actual size of the parts of an atom (electrons + nucleus) is TINY, the area is mostly 99.999% free space between these particles. In substances that absord light the difference in energies between two orbitals in the atoms is close the the visible spectum, so the incoming radiation is absorbed by an electron (they don't actually touch, just interact), and then boosts the electron up a level, when it falls back down it might rlease this energy as heat, or as light reflected back. In a transparent medium the energies which are absorbed by the electrons are not in the same frequency as visible light, so the light is not caputured as passes through easily.
Click to expand...

I think I understand, at least for gases. When a photon strikes an atom, the atom absorbs the photon and the electron is bumped to a higher n level. Because the lowest energy level possible is the most stable state, the atom will quickly fall back to the ground state and release a photon of equal energy (E = hf?) causing the light to be transmitted in the same direction as if it were uninhibited.

Hot or cold?
 
Originally posted by: Valhalla1
I used to wonder about transparency too

imagine if empty space didn't "appear" black. what if instead of infinite blackness, you perceived infinite transparency ?

can you even imagine infinite transparency ?
Click to expand...
You don't see either infinite "blackness" nor "transparency".
 
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