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darker when wet
grade 7 , 900l
a a a
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have you ever noticed that some things look darker when they get wet? have you ever wondered why? after all, water is clear. why should adding a clear liquid like water to your hair, your clothes, or the dirt outside make it look darker?

to deduce the answer to this question, it to first understand how humans see color. clear light, or white light, is invisible, but contains within it all colors of the visual spectrum. when light hits an object, some of that light is absorbed by the object. the light that is not absorbed gets reflected from the object. this reflected light is the light that our eyes can see. so, for example, let’s imagine that mary is wearing a red shirt. when white light (which contains all colors within it) hits mary's shirt, every color except red is absorbed by her shirt. red is not absorbed; it is reflected. it is this reflected red light that makes the shirt look red to us.

now let us imagine that mary spills water on her shirt. when the white light hits the wet part of the shirt, some of the light will reflect off the water instead of being absorbed by the shirt. since less light is absorbed by the shirt, less red light is reflected back to our eyes. this causes the shirt to look darker.

"absorption and emission." properties of light, web, 19 may 2012.

"color think tank." pantone, web, 20 may 2012.

questions
1 2 3 4 5
the main purpose of the passage is to

a. compare objects that absorb light to those that emit light
b. explain the science behind an everyday event
c. prove that water makes clothes darker
d. demonstrate the way in which light reflects off water