Light Absorption
Light Absorption is when a material takes in light energy instead of letting it bounce back or pass through.
A black baking tray and a shiny silver one sit side by side in the sun. The black tray soaks up the light and gets hot fast. The silver tray sends the light back and stays cool. Dark colors take in light energy; bright colors push it away.
Explaining light absorption by grade level
Dark colors soak up more light from the sun. Light colors bounce most light back. That is why a black shirt feels warm on a sunny day. White shirts stay cool because they do not soak up as much light.
Projects that explore light absorption
Water takes in light energy at different rates for each wavelength. Longer wavelengths like red fade first as the water absorbs them quickly, while shorter wavelengths like blue travel deeper. A scuba diver carries red, yellow, green, and blue metal balls to depths of 5, 10, 15, and 20 meters and photographs them at each stop. The photos show that red and yellow balls lose their visible color by 15 to 20 meters, while green and blue remain visible at all tested depths.
Different materials take in light energy in different amounts. Glass types vary in how much UV radiation they absorb. A tinted car windshield blocks nearly all UV rays, while regular window glass lets most of them through.
A material's color affects how much light energy it takes in instead of letting it pass through. You can measure this by covering a glass aquarium with different colored cotton cloths and recording the UV index inside. Black and blue cloth block the most UV rays, while white cloth lets almost all of them through.