Glass is Solid… So Why Is It Clear?

↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓

Glass is made of sand, which is a kind of rock. But glass is transparent, and rocks aren’t transparent. What’s up with that? Why is glass clear? And why can I sit on a chair? And why can we touch anything? Today we zoom down to the weird world of electron clouds and quantum touching to find the answers.

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[besmart]

Is this one of those questions you've always wondered about but never knew the answer to? Me too.
This is a re-upload, there was an error in a graphic in old version and YOU DESERVE 100% ACCURACY, FRIENDS

[yeetghostrat]

My initial thought
"well that's obvious, it's becau... Wait why is transparency a thing?"

[aparks]

"have i made myself clear?"
"clear as glass. in fact, i can see right through you"

[nerobernardino]

And I was today years old when I learned that glass is opaque to UV Light.

[Darkanight]

I love how you genuinely love understanding the reasons behind physical phenomena! It's so cool.

[jackexp]

I’m taking chemistry right now, and it’s really cool seeing how what I learn in school and what I learn from these videos is connected!

[radha]

*If Joe was my science teacher, I'm 100 % sure I wouldn't have dropped science.*
This is sooo cool!

[theDCification]

I feel like this video explains really well why matter in general can be transparent, and not at all why glass meets those conditions.

[s_h_u_a_n]

The way it is illustrated and how you tried to explain it was incredible! Thank you!!

[rolfviehmann]

Fun fact: It's nowadays possible to fine tune which frequencies should be let through and which should be blocked. I can't really explain how it works in detail, but I know the following:

For example, I wear glasses (not really made of glass, it's some kind of plastic) that have these two (intentionally created) features:
* UV filter (always present): It blocks all UV rays as much as possible (since they can harm your eyes, and are useless for human vision anyway).
* Blue filter (optional, costs extra): It blocks the highest frequencies of blue/violet light (basically right next to UV on a spectrum), since these are only minimally useful for human vision (since they are at the very edge of the visible frequency range), but they make your eyes go tired faster, since the photons have a lot of energy. And no, it does not filter out all blue light, just the highest frequencies, so everything only has a very slight yellow tint that you get used to very quickly.

So both features are made for the same purpose: Let as much useful light through as possible, while blocking as much unnecessary photons as possible, which is good for the eyes and it really works: Since I have glasses with these two features, my eyes get tired much less quickly (which is important for my work, but also for driving in the night). So if you ever get glasses, and are asked if you want to have an UV filter and a blue filter, I can recommend it.

[indominus]

This video is intresting just like all the others

[angieahite]

I can’t stop thinking about his kid(s) who will watch these videos at school for science class and being like: “THATS MY DAD!”

[filip.pwr]

"you can't touch anything" - Michael Stevens

[yanchee]

This is by far the best and most down-to-earth explanation I have ever seen, you put it in a way that even a young child could clearly understand the scientific facts behind how this really works, bravo.

[poppymcpeake]

i was literally asked why we can see through windows for my admissions interview for university lol

[thoughtfulcolors]

THANK YOU MUCH FOR EVERYTHING YOU AND YOUR SUPPORT SYSTEM DO ON YOUTUBE. YOU'RE ONE OF MY 100'S OF INSPIRATIONS THAT HELPED ME TO FINALLY CREATE A YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

[Alexander-isjo]

This video is misleading, in reality we love Joe's puns.

[TheMarauderOfficial]

gotta love this level of science where “spin” and “rotation” are two entirely different things, and are both complicated to explain simply

[funkykong]

Could an alien species create their bodies out of molecules that were transparent to human-visible light? :-D

[WilliamBoudle]

So glad you're back to making videos frequently. For awhile there I was starting to think you we're going to stop. You are one of my favorite science shows.