When light (composed of photons with different frequency and wavelength) falls on a material, some of it gets absorbed and some get reflected depending upon the color of the material on which it strikes. And the material reflects the light of its own color only, thereby absorbing all the other colored light. So, my questions are:
How would a photon with certain wavelength (say 400 nm) decide to get reflected after striking the material of red color?
What is the actual mechanism behind the reflection of various colored light by the material of different color?
Best Answer
Atoms and molecules contain electrons. It is often useful to think of these electrons as being attached to the atoms by springs. The electrons and their attached springs have a tendency to vibrate at specific frequencies. Similar to a tuning fork or even a musical instrument, the electrons of atoms have a natural frequency at which they tend to vibrate. When a light wave with that same natural frequency impinges upon an atom, then the electrons of that atom will be set into vibrational motion.
If a light wave of a given frequency strikes a material with electrons having the same vibrational frequencies, then those electrons will absorb the energy of the light wave and transform it into vibrational motion. During its vibration, the electrons interact with neighboring atoms in such a manner as to convert its vibrational energy into thermal energy. Subsequently, the light wave with that given frequency is absorbed by the object, never again to be released in the form of light. So the selective absorption of light by a particular material occurs because the selected frequency of the light wave matches the frequency at which electrons in the atoms of that material vibrate. Since different atoms and molecules have different natural frequencies of vibration, they will selectively absorb different frequencies of visible light