Physics·Properties of waves · NSSCO 4.3.1
Transmission & absorption
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Why can you see straight through a window but not through a wall? Why is grass green and an apple red? In this lesson we meet transparent, translucent and opaque materials, the three things light can do at a surface — transmission, reflection and absorption — and the beautiful reason objects look coloured. Then we explore coloured filters and how red, green and blue light add together to make white.
What you'll learn in this lesson
By the end you should be able to (NSSCO Physics 4.3.1):
- Classify materials as transparent, translucent or opaque by how they transmit light
- Describe the three things light can do at a surface — transmission, reflection and absorption
- Explain that absorbed light energy is turned into heat
- Explain why an object appears a particular colour (a red object reflects red and absorbs the rest)
- Explain how a coloured filter works — it transmits its own colour and absorbs the others
- State the primary colours of light (red, green, blue) and how they add together to make white
- Describe how a ray box, glass block, Perspex and a protractor are used to investigate light on different materials
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