Why/How does a lawnmower create alternating colored stripes of grass?
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The direction that the grass is bent determines the “light” or “dark” colored stripe. When the blades of grass are bent away from you, the grass appears lighter in color because the light is reflecting off of the wide, lengthy part of the blade. When the blades of grass are bent towards you, the grass appears darker as you are looking more of the tips of the blades (a smaller reflective surface) and the shadows under the grass. So cutting a lawn in an opposing pattern (up/down, right/left, north/south, east/west etc) provides the most contrasting stripe effect. Interestingly, as the “color” of the stripe is dependant upon what direction you are looking at it from, a “light” colored stripe will appear “dark” if you view it from the opposing direction.
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