Question

What happens when light falls on,
(A) an opaque object
(B) a highly polished surface.

Answer 1

Hint: We know that light is a kind of electromagnetic radiation and as it falls on an object it behaves differently for different surfaces or objects. That is the light wave incident on a surface or object either gets transmitted through the object, reflected from the surface and so on. And the amount of absorption of light also depends on the condition of the surface. That is, whether they are smooth, opaque or transparent.

Complete step-by-step solution:
(A) The opaque object means those objects don't allow light to pass through them. Thus when a beam of light is incident on an opaque object, a shadow is formed. And the amount of absorption is maximum in the case of an opaque object.
(B) When it comes to the case of a polished material or polished surface, the light actually gets reflected back or otherwise we can say that the beam of light bounces back as it strikes on the surface. And in all cases the surface absorbs a certain amount of light. But this is very less in the case of polished surfaces like mirrors. Hence the process of reflecting back the light is called reflection.

Note:Also remember that there are various types of objects which have different properties. One among them is called translucent objects. They allow the light to pass partially through them. And in a transparent material it allows the light to pass through them. That is, it doesn’t block the beam of light entering the material.