What does it mean when people say light can be absorbed, reflected or refracted. Can you please explain what these mean and please don't copy and paste
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When light or lets take photon for this. Photon can only have certain wavelength also electrons in the atom can only absorb certain wavelengths. So absorbing is the absorption of a certain wavelength photon by a picky electron (all electrons are picky) and the wavelength that is not absorbed usually passes through.
To describe reflection assume the electron has absorbed its certain wavelength so now it goes to a higher energy level but since the bottom orbital does not have two electrons the excited electron goes back down and releases the same photon also known as reflection.
Now for refraction, I FIND IT HARD AS WELL TO DESCRIBE IN ITS QUANTAM MANNER so sorry about that but what happens is when light travels through different medium or changes its medium instantly say from air to water it's velocity changes and so it bends. I am not sure why the bending occurs but I think it is because of the atomic characteristic of that state. In air there is some space for light to pass through or it does not get bent too much but as it approaches a more compact state water there it absorbed and reemitted by electrons more often changing the view in air and water giving the bend. Hope this helps.
To describe reflection assume the electron has absorbed its certain wavelength so now it goes to a higher energy level but since the bottom orbital does not have two electrons the excited electron goes back down and releases the same photon also known as reflection.
Now for refraction, I FIND IT HARD AS WELL TO DESCRIBE IN ITS QUANTAM MANNER so sorry about that but what happens is when light travels through different medium or changes its medium instantly say from air to water it's velocity changes and so it bends. I am not sure why the bending occurs but I think it is because of the atomic characteristic of that state. In air there is some space for light to pass through or it does not get bent too much but as it approaches a more compact state water there it absorbed and reemitted by electrons more often changing the view in air and water giving the bend. Hope this helps.
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You don't say what grade you're in, or what level of explanation you're looking for. I'm guessing you aren't asking about wave-particle duality or other complicated manifestations of electromagnetic radiation, and just want to know the basic differences between these.
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Reflection you should already know. When you see yourself in a mirror, or you see a cloud in the surface of a swimming pool, it's because the light is bouncing off of those reflective surfaces before it reaches your eye.
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Refraction would be the light that travels beneath the surface of the swimming pool, that you would see if you were at the bottom of the pool. What you might not notice is that the angle of the light changed when it hit the surface of the water. You can see that when you look at a clear glass full of water that has a drinking straw in it, and the straw looks like it is broken in two.
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Absorption is when the surface captures the light and doesn't reflect it. You can't see this, but you can feel it, when sunlight warms your skin. Here the atoms are capturing the photons of light into themselves--they store the energy by moving electrons into higher, more energetic orbits until the energy is again released later.
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Reflection you should already know. When you see yourself in a mirror, or you see a cloud in the surface of a swimming pool, it's because the light is bouncing off of those reflective surfaces before it reaches your eye.
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Refraction would be the light that travels beneath the surface of the swimming pool, that you would see if you were at the bottom of the pool. What you might not notice is that the angle of the light changed when it hit the surface of the water. You can see that when you look at a clear glass full of water that has a drinking straw in it, and the straw looks like it is broken in two.
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Absorption is when the surface captures the light and doesn't reflect it. You can't see this, but you can feel it, when sunlight warms your skin. Here the atoms are capturing the photons of light into themselves--they store the energy by moving electrons into higher, more energetic orbits until the energy is again released later.
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