Eli5: Why do things have the colors they have? I know that colors are just different wave lenghts, but why does an egg yolk for example reflect the waves that make it yellow? Why isnt it for example reflecting green waves? I dont understand how things “decide” what kind of light they reflect.
In: 8
Oh boy, this is a question about quantum mechanics.
So imagine you’re jumping rope. You can spin the rope slowly and complete one revolution per jump, or speed it up and go around twice per jump.
You can’t go around 1.5 times per jump, since you’re just gonna collapse the wave.
Materials are bound by the same concept when they interact with light. They can absorb and emit at the specific frequencies that correspond to “jumps” in their vibrational and electronic energy levels. Anything else is no-man’s-land that bounces off.
What those frequencies are vary based on the size and shape and characteristics of the molecule, so every material is different.
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