That’s why they sparkle

This one was new to me. Most of us know that the speed of light is somewhere around 186,000 miles per second (186,282.4 to be precise). And high school science taught us that light changes speed when passing from air to a solid like glass or plastic.

This is all much more pronounced when light enters a diamond. The density of all of those carbon atoms slows light to 77,500 miles per second as it bounces around making its way to an exit. All of this pinballing is what gives diamonds their sparkle.

Our photo today, is kind of related? What you are looking at is a 10° grid for a reflector for one of my monolights. This chokes the spread of the light output down to a very narrow beam.

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