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If all the light either reflects off of an object or is absorbed by the object we say it is opaque. The mirror shown to the right is opaque. If an object is opaque you can not see through it. You can only see your reflection bouncing off of the mirror you can not see what is on the other side. |
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Your clothes are also opaque. They reflect some colors of light (these are the colors that you can see) and it absorbs all other colors of light. Did you ever notice that black shirts are hotter in the summer and white shirts are cooler? This is because white shirts reflect all colors of light while black shirts absorb all colors of light. This means that the energy from all those absorbed light waves heat up your black shirt. Regardless of which shirt you wear however, you can not see through the shirt because they are opaque. |
Transparent Materials
| When all light passes through a substance, it is said to be transparent. Most windows are transparent. This means that you can look out your window and see what is happening outside. All the light from the outside passes right through your glass |  |
Translucent Materials
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It is possible to have a material that allows some light but not all light to pass through the substance. We call this type of substance translucent. An example of this is a pair of sunglasses. Sunglasses allow some light to pass through which allows you to see. The rest of the light is either absorbed or reflected off the surface of the glasses. If the glasses absorb the light they look dark to the eye. If the glasses reflect light they look like they are mirrored on one side. In fact two way mirrors are an example of a translucent material. |
Click Here to see how two way mirrors work.