Question

Mostly filter rates are given in percent, but if I imagine that for example 10 photons hit an absorption filter with 50%, molecules are excited there and in the end only 5 get through while the other 5 have led to heating, why should 10 photons suddenly be absorbed with 20? Does this simply have to do with the hit probability? And what if the intensity becomes so high that the molecules break? How is this prevented with UV filters? Why don't sunglasses for example heat up until they start to burn when they are in the sun, after all the absorbed energy has to go somewhere else than in vibration, rotation and translation, that would become more and more in the filter with time... and as a photon to radiate again would be pretty bad because you want to prevent that in sunglasses.

Or another example, how does a black surface get rid of the absorbed energy from light without re emitting photons again? (Ok, maybe the vibrational energy could re transmittet to the surrounding gas molecules but what if there's a vacuum around that black surface? Would it be enough to simply point a very weak lighting source on it for a very long time to reach the burning point?)

So are those filter transmission values given in % actually themselve light intensity dependent?
Options:

A) Yes, the absorption of photons in filters is probabilistic and can vary with incident light intensity.
B) UV filters prevent molecular breakage by employing materials with specific energy bandgaps.
C) Sunglasses manage absorbed energy through heat dissipation and transmission to the surrounding medium.
D) Black surfaces disperse absorbed energy primarily through thermal processes in the absence of re-emission of photons.

Answer 1

Transparent materials, such as glasses, do not absorb visible light because there is no energy step in the atoms or molecules to absorb it. UV light is absorbed by sunglasses through heat dissipation and transmission, preventing the sunglasses from heating up or burning. Black surfaces disperse absorbed energy primarily through thermal processes in the absence of re-emission of photons, as mentioned in option D.

Step-by-step explanation:

Transparent materials, such as some glasses, do not absorb any visible light, because there is no energy step in the atoms or molecules that could absorb the light. Since individual photons interact with individual atoms, it is nearly impossible to have two photons absorbed simultaneously to reach a large energy step.

Because of its lower photon energy, visible light can sometimes pass through many kilometers of a substance, while higher frequencies like UV, x-ray, and gamma rays are absorbed, because they have sufficient photon energy to ionize the material.

According to Table 29.1, UV light disrupts atoms and molecules it interacts with, making it easily absorbed by sunglasses and other UV filters.

The absorbed energy is largely dissipated through heat and is transmitted to the surrounding medium, managing the absorbed energy through heat dissipation and transmission, as stated in option C.

This prevents the absorbed energy from causing the sunglasses to heat up until they start to burn. Black surfaces disperse absorbed energy primarily through thermal processes in the absence of re-emission of photons, as mentioned in option D.