I could be way off base with my original assumption, but if light is shined in space it travels straight forward indefinitely (in theory). But if it is shined on something, it illuminates that object then goes away. So what happens to the light particles/energy. I hope this makes sense, I am struggling to find the words for my question.
Just wanted to throw in an edit and say thank you for the responses. It was very informative and I greatly appreciate that!
In: 10
When the light hits something, it’ll do one of 4 main things.
1. It’ll reflect off of it, which is what you see with your eyes.
2. It’ll be absorbed by it, converting to thermal energy. This is why standing in shade makes you cooler than in direct sunlight, even if the air temperature is the same both places.
3. It’ll pass through, and might be somewhat altered in the process. Windows are an obvious example, but prisms are another example where what you see is different than if it went through unimpeded.
4. Is rarer, but is when light is absorbed, but then re-emitted in some way. This is the cause of both fluorescence (things under a black light showing up more) and phosphorescence (things that glow in the dark).
EDIT: To add a bit more clarity to the “why,” light interacts with the electrons surrounding an atom. Exactly how depends on the atoms being hit, and the energy of the light particle (photon) hitting them.
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