Timeline for If atoms are mostly empty space, why doesn't light pass through everything?

7 events

when toggle format	what		by	license	comment
May 13, 2015 at 12:33	comment	added	299792458		Related: Why doesn't matter pass through other matter if atoms are 99.999 percent empty space?
May 13, 2015 at 0:35	comment	added	The Photon		Chicken wire is mostly empty space, but that doesn't mean you can walk right through it.
May 13, 2015 at 0:03	vote	accept	Tdonut
May 12, 2015 at 22:35	comment	added	dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten		"Atoms are mostly empty space" This sits right near the top of my list of "Unhelpful Science Factoids That Aren't Really So". It depends on a half-assed understanding of the Bohr model which is wrong in a lot of ways, but is still taught because it is a easy stepping stone toward a real understand of atoms. However, as the de facto single thing that non-scientists "know" about atoms it is just awful and is wrong, wrong, wrong!
May 12, 2015 at 21:39	answer	added	Solomon Slow		timeline score: 13
May 12, 2015 at 21:23	comment	added	CuriousOne		For the purpose of your questions photons do not interact with the empty space inside matter but with the electrons that are in it. How strong that interaction is depends on the quantum mechanical state of the electrons. In some materials a few hundred nm of material will absorb almost all photons, in others photons can go trough hundreds of meters without being absorbed. To understand the details one has to dig deep into atomic, molecular and solid state physics.
May 12, 2015 at 21:19	history	asked	Tdonut	CC BY-SA 3.0