[Janean Mollet-Van Beckum]

Janean Mollet-Van Beckum  asked the Naked Scientists:
   
I know that things are certain colours because light reflects off of them, but what makes something clear?

Thank you.

Janean
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
What do you think?

[Mike Gale]

Here's a pretty good explanation: https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/7437/why-glass-is-transparent

In a nutshell, it is due to the absence of atomic structures that can absorb light in the visible frequency range.

[hamdani yusuf]

Here's a pretty good explanation: https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/7437/why-glass-is-transparent

In a nutshell, it is due to the absence of atomic structures that can absorb light in the visible frequency range.

transparency is not exclusively determined by atomic structure. It's also affected by molecular bond/structure, as shown in Infrared spectroscopy.
When light hit a material, several things might happen to it:
- it is passed through
- it is reflected
- it is absorbed
when passed or reflected, light can also be refracted, polarized, diffracted, scattered.
when absorbed, it is converted to other form of energy, such as heat, chemical, or electrical. It can also converted to different frequency of light, as found in fluorescent materials.