×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Problems with Light

Problems with Light

Problems with Light

(OP)
Hello:

Not really a question for this forum.
My problem is that I bought a book for my daughter (12 years old). I want her to be an engineer. God save her.
The question in the book was "Why is snow white?". My answer is "because of ice crystals, and refraction, whatever be the input light, due to blending of millions of multifaceted crystals, the output is white".
The book says "ice crystals, millions of them, because of REFLECTION".
Can somebody tell me, is it REFLECTION or REFRACTION.
I want my daughter also to join this forum one day.
Thanks.
Raj

RE: Problems with Light

One answer to your question:

http://www.howstuffworks.com/question524.htm

I.e, reflection.

Do you seriously think you can influence your daughter's  decisions?  Wait a year and get back to us on that.  In the meantime, please, just pray for her to be healthy and happy.

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

RE: Problems with Light

Reflection from Refracted rays.

"Snow is a whole bunch of individual ice crystals arranged together. When a light photon enters a layer of snow, it goes through an ice crystal on the top, which changes its direction slightly and sends it on to a new ice crystal, which does the same thing."

I believe, "changes its direction slightly" means refraction.

The only visible result is(are) the color(s) that has been reflected from a brick, snow, or diamond, back to the human eye, which is not to say that there was no refraction involved.

BigInchworm-born in the trenches.
http://virtualpipeline.spaces.msn.com

RE: Problems with Light

Clear particles look white due to scattering of light, which is caused by both refraction and reflection.

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources