CoachMaterials meet light in three manners:
- transparent: light crosses nearly undisturbed, keeping its order — clear glass, still water, air; images pass intact;
- translucent: light crosses, but scrambled — frosted glass, tracing paper, a thin curtain; brightness passes, images do not;
- opaque: light is stopped — absorbed or diffused back — wood, stone, metal, your hand; behind an opaque thing lies shadow.
Examples
Example 49.9 (Architecture’s three teams)
Builders deploy all three on purpose. Transparent window glass: view and light together. Translucent bathroom panes and frosted office partitions: daylight in, privacy kept — brightness without images is exactly their job description. Opaque walls and shutters: darkness on demand. Lampshades are translucency in service of comfort: the blazing filament’s glare is scrambled into a soft, sourceless glow.