I searched for it but couldn’t get anything.
I know that if some material is a shade of green colour then light of every other wavelength other than that shade is absorbed.
Also that the colour appears due to the visible electromagnetic radiation by de-excitation of electrons.
What I don’t understand is:
Why do electrons keep oscillating between higher and lower states?
Electrons can move from one level to another level by emitting photons of different energy. For example for level 5 to level 1, it can go 5->3->1 or 5->4->3->2->1. So why is the apparent colour consistent?
A blue pigment absorbs yellow light. So electrons absorb yellow light to excite but give off blue when de-exciting for the same transition. How does this hold conservation of energy?
Would there be any observed colour difference if the same light bulb is kept in a blue room with blue objects and then a yellow room with same blue objects?
Thanks for helping.
In: Chemistry
If a light wave of a given frequency strikes a material with electrons having the same vibrational frequencies, then those electrons will absorb the energy of the light wave and transform it into vibrational motion.
During its vibration, the electrons interact with neighboring atoms in such a manner as to convert its vibrational energy into thermal energy. Subsequently, the light wave with that given frequency is absorbed by the object, never again to be released in the form of light. So the selective absorption of light by a particular material occurs because the selected frequency of the light wave matches the frequency at which electrons in the atoms of that material vibrate.
Since different atoms and molecules have different natural frequencies of vibration, they will selectively absorb different frequencies of visible light.
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