* A translucent material makes a faint shadow. * An opaque material makes a dark shadow. When an object blocks light, it makes a shadow.Ī shadow appears the side of the objects furthest from the light source. We cannot see anything through opaque materials, because they do not let light pass through them, instead they block the light. Translucent materials let some light pass through them by scattering light in all directions. We cannot see clearly through translucent materials. We can clearly see through transparent materials, because light passes through transparent materials in straight lines. Transparent, translucent and opaque materials Therefore a transparent object does not make any shadow. Light passes straight through a transparent material. Opaque or translucent objects can make shadows. Since transparent and apparent are rhyming words that have similar meanings, you can remember to use transparent if something is very easy to understand or allows all light to pass through it.When objects block light, shadows are made. Opaque objects allow no light to pass through or are difficult to understand.Translucent objects allow only some light to pass through them.Transparent objects are clear or easy to understand.Even though these words are as similar as the concepts they describe, they are specific terms and should be used intentionally. Is it transparent or translucent? Many people have trouble choosing transparent or translucent. If no light passes through, the object is opaque. If light still passes through but is less easily visible, the object would be translucent. Since transparent objects are clear and light is easily visible through them, this mnemonic should help you remember when to use transparent. Transparent rhymes with apparent, and both mean, roughly, clear or easily visible. Eliot’s poem The Waste Land is beautiful, but its meaning is opaque.” Trick to Remember the Difference For instance, as many English majors often complain, “T. Similarly, you could also use opaque to describe something that is difficult or impossible to understand. India has the most transparent companies while Chinese firms are the most opaque, according to a global watchdog’s survey released Monday that assesses the efforts of companies in emerging markets to fight corruption.The man’s obvious lie about his salary was clearly a transparent attempt to elicit a phone number from the woman at the bar.After pushback from shareholders, the company published a transparent accounting of its holdings.The video hosting website adopted a new, more transparent privacy policy.Clean air and the windshield of a car are transparent. Something that is transparent allows all light to pass through it. What does transparent mean? If you were writing about a pane of glass, and that piece of glass was perfectly clear, you would use transparent. Designed by James Corner Field Operations, the design firm behind New York’s High Line, Seattle’s Central Waterfront and Chicago’s Navy Pier, the exhibition, opening July 2, features more than 30 translucent pentahedrons and octahedrons that mimic what it feels like to walk on the seabed.If an object allows no light to pass through it, like a slab of concrete, a polar bear, or dirt, it is said to be opaque. Stained glass, champagne, and seawater are translucent. Something that is translucent allows some, but not all, light to pass through it. What does translucent mean? If you were writing about a pane of glass, but that pane of glass was frosty, darkly colored, or very dirty, you would use translucent.

Translucent and transparent