In a previous post we described in scientific terms the basic principles of the optical phenomenon of reflection. The definition of the percentage reflectance of light from the surface of any material was defined quantitatively. We set up a small fibre optic spectrometer and a reflectance probe in order to record the reflectance spectra of a series of standardised colour squares from a Macbeth ColorChecker™ colour rendition chart and produce the reflectance spectra obtained.
In this post we move on to exploring the reflectance spectra of different materials. For now we consider the reflection of visible light from common household objects such as fruit, vegetables and other items. These are very simple experiments to perform once the basic components have been set up and it is likely that additional materials and surfaces will be measured in future posts.
Here is a quick reminder of the experimental setup:
