Light Passing Through Materials

Hello Sir,I wanted to ask since light is made of photons and they are smaller than electrons and as atoms are made of nucleus and electron shells which are empty space, does that mean that there is no material ever gauranteed to block the full 100% of light as photons may pass through these spaces or materials can block the full 100% exist, thanks
- Bahy Shaheen (age 24)
Kennesaw

There are a number of claims in there that aren't true, although some resemble things that are taught.

Photons are not "smaller" than electrons, in any sense that we currently know about. Both exist as quantum smears, and neither has a known minimum size. Electron "shells" don't exist as real things, they're just partial descriptions of what sorts of definite-energy states electrons can have in atoms. The actual electron states are spread out, with no empty volumes.

For a given photon passing through a given collection of atoms, there's a certain probability that the photon will get through without being absorbed or scattered. As the collection of atoms gets thicker, that probability falls exponentially toward zero. It doesn't ever quite get exactly to zero, though it gets close enough for all practical purposes. No photons, however, are sneaking through empty spaces in the electron clouds.

Mike W.

(published on 04/28/2015)