Question

Explain the difference between a transparent, a translucent and an opaque medium. Give two examples of each.

Answer 1

When light collides with a substance, it can interact with it in a variety of ways. The wavelength of the light and the composition of the substance influence these interactions. Photons interact with objects in a variety of ways, including reflection, absorption, and transmission. Optical transparency refers to the ability of some materials, such as plate glass and pure water, to transmit most of the light that falls on them while reflecting very little.

Complete step by step solution:
Transparency (pellucidity or diaphaneity) in optics is the physical characteristic of enabling light to flow through a substance without significant scattering. The photons can be considered to obey Snell's Law on a macroscopic scale (one in which the dimensions are substantially greater than the wavelengths of the photons in question).
Light can flow through translucency (translucence or translucidity), although it does not always follow Snell's law; photons can be dispersed at either of the two surfaces, or inside, where the index of refraction changes. To put it another way, a transparent substance is made up of components with various refractive indices.
Opaque materials are those that do not transmit light. Many of these compounds have what are known as absorption centres in their chemical makeup. The absorption of white light wavelengths by many compounds is selective. They absorb certain visible spectrum wavelengths while reflecting others. For our physical observation, the frequencies of the spectrum that are not absorbed are either reflected or transmitted. Color is the result of this process. The combined mechanisms of absorption and scattering cause the attenuation of light of all frequencies and wavelengths.
In short,
1. Transparent objects - These are items that allow light to flow through readily, such as water, glass, and air.
2. Translucent item - A translucent object is one that allows light to flow through it partially, such as tracing paper or waxed paper.
3. Opaque object - An opaque object is one that does not allow light to flow through it, such as wood.

Note:
The shift in direction of a wave travelling from one medium to another or from a gradual change in the medium is referred to as refraction in physics. Although light refraction is the most widely observed phenomena, other waves such as sound and water waves are also subject to refraction. The change in wave speed and the starting direction of wave propagation relative to the direction of change in speed influence how much a wave is refracted.