Rainbow Glass
Sanaya Basu
Award: Top 100
School: evanston township high school
Teacher: daniel dubrow
Category: Contrived
Photo #21110
Rainbow Glass
Stained glass can create a unique visual effect by acting as a filter for sunlight.
First, the glass absorbs some wavelengths of sunlight, while transmitting others. Sunlight is white to our eyes, but it's actually made up of multiple wavelengths. The length of each wave determines the color we see. When these waves are mixed, the colors mix as well, and we perceive this as white.
The stained glass acts as a wavelength filter. Some are absorbed; others pass through. For example, a red pane will absorb green and blue wavelengths, but it'll only transmit red waves. This leads to us seeing the color red through the window pane. It doesn't make color; instead, absorbing wavelengths from sunlight until a single color is visible.
Now, for the colors to finally reach our eyes, they have to interact with other objects. The light continues to travel through the glass in a straight line until it hits another surface. When it's the wall, a floor, or a pillar, it reflects off that surface and continues. The place where the light hits is where we can see the color reflected. Directly above the windows, you can see an orange and yellow glow on the ceiling, which demonstrates this exact process.
So, when humans see colors through stained glass windows, it's not the windows making them. Instead, they filter sunlight and allow specific wavelengths to come through, producing the color we see.
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