Which statement best explains a difference between the interaction of light with clear glass and the interaction of light with silver metal?

• A. Light slows down when it interacts with glass but not when it interacts with metal.
• B. Light slows down when it interacts with metal but not when it interacts with glass.
• C. Most of the light passes through glass but none of the light passes through metal.
• D. Most of the light is absorbed by glass but none of the light is absorbed by metal.

Answer: (C)

Light behaves differently with transparent, dielectric materials compared to metals. Clear glass allows light to pass through, though it slows a bit and bends as it enters or exits (refraction). Silver, being a metal, is highly reflective and effectively opaque in the visible range, so most light that hits it is reflected back with little to no transmission. That contrast—transmission through glass versus almost no transmission through metal—is why the statement about most light passing through glass but none passing through metal best captures the difference. The other ideas misstate what happens: light does slow in glass, metals don’t transmit light in the visible range, and glass typically does not absorb most of the light in its clear form, while metals reflect and absorb rather than transmit.