[From: Light and Color, by Clarence Rainwater, Prof. of Physics, San Francisco State College, Original Project Editor Herbert S. Zim, Golden Press, NY, Western Publishing Company, Inc., 1971.]
Scattering is the random deflection of light rays by fine particles. When sunlight enters through a crack, scattering by dust particles in the air makes the shaft of light visible. Haze is a result of light scattering by fog and smoke particles.
Reflection, diffraction, and interference all play a part in the complex phenomenon of scattering. If the scattering particles are of uniform size and much smaller than the wavelength of light, selective scattering may occur and the material will appear colored, as shown above. Shorter wavelengths will be scattered much more strongly than longer ones. In general, scattered light will appear bluish, while the remaining directly transmitted light will lack the scattered blue rays and thus appear orange or red. Many natural blue tints are due to selective scattering rather than to blue pigments. The blue of skies and oceans is due to this kind of scattering. Blue eyes are the result of light scattering in the iris when a dark pigment is lacking.
Scattering by larger particles is nonselective and produces white. The whiteness of a bird's feather, of snow, and of clouds--all are due to scattering by particles which, though small, are large compared to the wavelength of light. [pg. 50]
[Light and Color, by Clarence Rainwater, Prof. of Physics, San Francisco State College, Original Project Editor Herbert S. Zim, Golden Press, NY, Western Publishing Company, Inc., 1971.]
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