Why does spilt oil look multicoloured?
In: Chemistry
Light travels like waves on water. The length between the tops of the waves can be thought of as what we as humans see as different colors.
The thickness of oil films on water has a thickness that is very thin at some places similar enough to the length between the wave tops off coloured light.
When the waves of the light interacts with the thin oil, the waves bounce in peculiar ways. This alters the length between the waves and the colors we see.
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