Question

a shiny, smooth piece of black plastic and an identical piece of white plastic are exposed to visible light and sound waves. which of the following is true about the different colors of plastic?

the white piece of plastic will reflect sound waves better than the black piece of plastic, but both pieces of plastic will reflect the same amount of visible light.

the white piece of plastic will reflect both visible light and sound waves better than the black piece of plastic.

the white piece of plastic and the black piece of plastic will reflect both visible light and sound waves equally well.

the white piece of plastic will reflect more visible light than the black piece of plastic, but both pieces of plastic will reflect sound waves in the same way.

Explanation:

• For visible light: White objects reflect most visible light (they appear white as they reflect all visible wavelengths), while black objects absorb most visible light (reflect little).
• For sound waves: The reflection of sound depends more on surface texture (both are shiny, smooth here) and material properties related to sound - not color. So color doesn't affect sound reflection here, and both smooth plastics will reflect sound similarly. Other options are wrong: e.g., color affects light reflection (so same light reflection is wrong), sound reflection isn't affected by color (so white reflecting sound better or both light/sound equally is wrong).

Answer:

The white piece of plastic will reflect more visible light than the black piece of plastic, but both pieces of plastic will reflect sound waves in the same way.