Transparent vs Opaque: Why are Some Objects Different?

blumfeld0 · Dec 5, 2006

why are some things transparent like glass and others opaque like some metals or plastics?
thank you

Claude Bile · Dec 5, 2006

It all depends on the energy band structure of the solid. A given photon has a high probability of being absorbed if it matches some type of resonant transitions within the solid. Whether a material is transparent or opaque thus depends on what part of the spectrum you are interested in.

Take glass for an example. It is transparent in the visible, yet it is opaque in the infrared.

Claude.

Transparent vs Opaque: Why are Some Objects Different?

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