Question

The colour of an opaque object is due to the colour it:
(A) Reflects
(B) Refracts
(C) Absorbs
(D) Scatters

Answer 1

Hint
When white light consisting of various components falls on any object, a part of the light gets absorbed. The absorbed portion of wavelength depends on the material of the object. The rest of the component of the light reflects off the object and then reaches our eyes.

Complete step by step answer
The white light can be broken up into more than one component. These lights of different colours have different wavelengths and hence the energy associated with those wavelengths vary accordingly.
Different objects have a different composition and hence the internal structures of the atoms within the substances vary. The electrons in the atoms of the substances absorb or emit energy while following the quantum laws. The amounts of energy absorbed or emitted by the electrons vary with the structure of the atoms.
So when the white light falls on an object, the electrons in the atoms within the object absorb various wavelengths of the light according to their requirement. The rest of the wavelengths get reflected from the surface of the object. These reflected wavelengths of light reach our eyes and we perceive them.
Therefore the colour we see of an opaque object is due to the light waves that it reflects.
Hence option (A) is correct.

Note
The most common example is all the green plants around us. The component in the plants called chlorophyll absorbs the red and blue spectrum of light and reflects the green. So the plants look green around us. Some kinds of objects are opaque to some form of light while being transparent in some other form. Like glass and water are transparent to the visible white light whereas, under UV light both of them turn opaque.