Why does a blackened spoon appear glossy when immersed in water?

[nariman]

Hello To Every one.
I am having a problem with an experiment...
In This Experiment,I Must Blacken A Spoon With A Candle Flame.After That,If I Immerse The Spoon In The Water,It Appears Glossy.
The Question Is Why?
I Was Hoping That Some one Could Help Me...
Thanx!

 

[Shooting Star]

It becomes black because soot, that is, carbon is deposited. It's a very loose deposit and has a lot of air trapped in it. When you immerse it in water, there is total internal reflection from the interface between air and water and the light is reflected back from the surface of the bubbles, resulting in the glossy appearance.

 

[suolintu]

This is one of the IYPT 2008 questions. (www.iypt.org, International Young Physicists' Tournament) As so, the teams are supposed to work these out on their own. Answering the question here only ensures that other teams also get the answer. This is unfair to the teams that have actually experimented with the phenomenom. However having the answer isn't going to help your team, you also have to somehow prove it. I hope that no one will help you with that. So have a nice time figuring that out.