Chemistry of Sunglasses

Hopewell Valley Student Podcasting NetworkChemistry ConnectionsThe Chemistry of SunglassesEpisode #5  Welcome to Chemistry Connections, my name is Austin Martorana and Tyler Hersh and we are your hosts for episode #5 called The Chemistry of Sunglasses. Today we will be discussing about radiation and the reaction that causes a tint in the glasses. Segment 1: Introduction to SunglassesHave you ever put on sunglasses and been like, “How do these sunglasses block the sun.” Well, so did we.Well that's actually very interesting because I’ve wanted to know this for a long time and doing research on it shared a lot of information like why do these little pieces of glass absorb UV rays and make everything a little bit darker?Yea, i agree after this project I finally realized how the lenses block out light to help you see better. Some background information is that UV rays are a form of radiation wavelengths that is commonly found through sunlight. Not only do the sunglasses block out UV rays they have a specific reaction that takes place in the tints through excited electronsSome background to electrons are when they hold more energy than when in their original state. This will cause them to be excited. Segment 2: The Chemistry Behind SunglassesHey Tyler when you go to the beach do you wear sunglasses?Yea, Austin I do they help protect my eyes from the sun. Today we are going to dive into exactly how sunglasses work to protect our eyes from the sun.  Sunglasses have a mirror coating on the outside edges that work as a defense against the UV rays from the sun. The coating is treated with UV-absorbing chemicals so it can block harmful UV and reflect the light away. The tint from the sunglasses comes from the reaction between cations of the silver compound in them and the electrons of the glass. The cluster of silver electrons become excited when hit by light which makes them move back and forth which then allows silver to absorb the light and scatter it. The energy from the sun acts as both wave particles and electromagnetic energy which are called Photons. We can describe the characteristics of photons by wavelengths and frequency. Wavelengths play a big part in describing radiation and knowing which radiation is which. Radiation comes in 6 forms which are gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet radiation, visible light, infrared radiation, and radio waves. Even though there are so...