mostly empty space

tomaschonnie

if atoms are mostly empty space, then why isn't everything see-through?

Fringe

A sheet of cling film is see through. However, start layering it and eventually, you won't be able to see anything through it. A single atom is invisible to the naked eye but an object has so many atoms arranged in it that eventually, a light wave will hit something and reflect into our eyes.

Morbert

tomaschonnie wrote: »

if atoms are mostly empty space, then why isn't everything see-through?

We see things by exploiting the behaviour of electromagnetic waves. Even though the electrons orbiting atoms are tiny, they still interact with these waves/photons, allowing us to see things. The emptiness of atoms isn't important.

mcmoustache

An interesting analogy but on another scale would be galaxies. They are mostly empty space but because of the amount of stars that they contain, you can't see through them.

craggles

Fringe wrote: »

A sheet of cling film is see through.

And there's still enough light reflected to actually see that it's there.

ianobrien

I'm going to hazard a guess (and it's probably wrong) but might the fact that the wavelength of light is an order of magnitude larger than the "gaps" in atoms have something to do with it?

I think for transparent items (glass etc) the molecular structure allows some light through.

Podge_irl

ianobrien wrote: »

I'm going to hazard a guess (and it's probably wrong) but might the fact that the wavelength of light is an order of magnitude larger than the "gaps" in atoms have something to do with it?

Yes

goose2005

ianobrien wrote: »

I'm going to hazard a guess (and it's probably wrong) but might the fact that the wavelength of light is an order of magnitude larger than the "gaps" in atoms have something to do with it?

No, it's the amplitude.

ianobrien

goose2005 wrote: »

No, it's the amplitude.

Yes! thinking about it, it would have to be the amplitude. Thanks for that.

Podge_irl

goose2005 wrote: »

No, it's the amplitude.

No it's not.