My 4 year old asked me and I think it’s a rather good question that I would like to answer so she understands. Thanks 🙏🏻
In: 1926
You ask her why she thinks it is and then go first where she starts in her head. Question each answer constructively and inquisitively in a way that leads her to answer you in ways she is almost always right in until, methodically, you both land together at a new piece of knowledge—the scientific answer for how H2O molecules bind together, and how they both refract light and allow it to pass through. You neither give her the answer nor let her think you’re holding it from her. You work together to get it.
And I have to remember we can’t see light, only the reflection of it…so water is clear because there is nothing for light to reflect off of…but in large quantities, blue light is scattered so it’s blue
My simple brain just says it’s see through because it is made of hydrogen and oxygen, which are both invisible gases.
My simple brain just says it’s see through because it is made of hydrogen and oxygen, which are both invisible gases.
Addressing the “4-year-old wants to know” part of your question rather than the thread title, it’s worth noting that plenty of substances are transparent to other parts of the EM spectrum. Radio waves can pass through wood and drywall, while light can’t even make it through the paint. X-rays can go right through your body, but UV is blocked by glass or [sunscreen](https://youtu.be/GRD-xvlhGMc).
Addressing the “4-year-old wants to know” part of your question rather than the thread title, it’s worth noting that plenty of substances are transparent to other parts of the EM spectrum. Radio waves can pass through wood and drywall, while light can’t even make it through the paint. X-rays can go right through your body, but UV is blocked by glass or [sunscreen](https://youtu.be/GRD-xvlhGMc).
Water is see-through because it lets light pass through it easily, just like when you look through a clean window. The light goes straight through the water without getting mixed up, so we can see things on the other side clearly. That’s why when we look into a pool or a clear lake, we can see fish and other things underwater.
Water is see-through because it lets light pass through it easily, just like when you look through a clean window. The light goes straight through the water without getting mixed up, so we can see things on the other side clearly. That’s why when we look into a pool or a clear lake, we can see fish and other things underwater.
An object will absorb only certain wavelengths of light while allowing others to pass through. It just so happens the wavelengths that water doesn’t absorb coincides well with the wavelengths in visible light.
Things like bricks, concrete, wood, etc all have ranges of wavelengths that it cannot absorb and thus appear transparent for photons in those wavelengths, it’s just that those wavelengths are not visible to humans and therefore we cannot detect those photons that passes through. A camera that can detect photons in those ranges, such as an xray machine, would be able to see those objects as transparent.
Similarly, transparent objects to us might not necessarily be transparent in other wavelengths. For example, glass is opaque to infrared light. This is why sitting indoors behind a window in the sun feels much cooler than sitting outdoors in the sun even if it doesn’t look like there’s a difference.
An object will absorb only certain wavelengths of light while allowing others to pass through. It just so happens the wavelengths that water doesn’t absorb coincides well with the wavelengths in visible light.
Things like bricks, concrete, wood, etc all have ranges of wavelengths that it cannot absorb and thus appear transparent for photons in those wavelengths, it’s just that those wavelengths are not visible to humans and therefore we cannot detect those photons that passes through. A camera that can detect photons in those ranges, such as an xray machine, would be able to see those objects as transparent.
Similarly, transparent objects to us might not necessarily be transparent in other wavelengths. For example, glass is opaque to infrared light. This is why sitting indoors behind a window in the sun feels much cooler than sitting outdoors in the sun even if it doesn’t look like there’s a difference.
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