Ken B
08-01-2001, 01:20 PM
The following is just a theory I came up with based on very little knowledge of physics and too much marketing experience… so please take it with a BIG grain of salt…
I believe I came up with an explanation based on physics of why layering products works to increase the shine and "wetness".
The “Shine” is the reflection of light as it hits the paint and “Scatters”… as light waves travel through the paint, they elastically collide with the atoms and light is scattered in to many wavelengths as a result.
i.e. the car shines in many colors as it interacts with the atoms in the paint and clear-coat.
Attenuation is the decrease in magnitude of power of a signal, dirt increases attenuation “absorbing” light and not allowing it to hit the clear-coat, and than absorbing the light that did reflect back
So we spend many hours cleaning the car to reduce attenuation.
Index of Refraction (IOR) is a way of measuring the speed of light in a material. It is the ratio of light velocity in a vacuum to its velocity in a given transmission medium. Light travels fastest in a vacuum, such as outer space. (The actual speed of light in a vacuum is 300,000 kilometers per second, or 186,000 miles per second.)
Index of Refraction is calculated by dividing the speed of light in a vacuum by the speed of light in some other medium. The Index of Refraction of a vacuum by definition has a value of 1, any other material has a higher value and the larger the index of refraction, the more slowly light travels in that medium.
When a light ray traveling in one material (air) hits a material with a lower IOR (Clear-coat) it reflects back but looses intensity due to attenuation.
The IOR will explain why layering makes the cars shine differently…
Each coat we apply will have a different index of refraction due to “build up”, different formulas (AIO,SG, Z1,,Z2 etc…) and the hundreds of things that can change at the microscopic level from one coat to the next.
What ends up happening with layering is that each coat will “scatter” light and reflect back different wavelengths, the more coats the more wavelengths are reflected and you get more shine in more colors.
The car looks WET, because light is reflected many times.
Wet objects shine more because you see the reflection from the water (with a certain IOR) and the reflection from the object (another IOR), plus the reflection of the light that is bouned back from the paint to the clear and then bouced back outside
So… Clean and polish to reduce attenuation (add depth)
Add a coat of protection we increase Shine
Layer to create shine and “Wetness”
Any rebuttals are welcomed... but I did warn you first that I have no credentials to prove this in any way…
[Edited by Belicoso on 08-02-2001 at 12:17 PM]
I believe I came up with an explanation based on physics of why layering products works to increase the shine and "wetness".
The “Shine” is the reflection of light as it hits the paint and “Scatters”… as light waves travel through the paint, they elastically collide with the atoms and light is scattered in to many wavelengths as a result.
i.e. the car shines in many colors as it interacts with the atoms in the paint and clear-coat.
Attenuation is the decrease in magnitude of power of a signal, dirt increases attenuation “absorbing” light and not allowing it to hit the clear-coat, and than absorbing the light that did reflect back
So we spend many hours cleaning the car to reduce attenuation.
Index of Refraction (IOR) is a way of measuring the speed of light in a material. It is the ratio of light velocity in a vacuum to its velocity in a given transmission medium. Light travels fastest in a vacuum, such as outer space. (The actual speed of light in a vacuum is 300,000 kilometers per second, or 186,000 miles per second.)
Index of Refraction is calculated by dividing the speed of light in a vacuum by the speed of light in some other medium. The Index of Refraction of a vacuum by definition has a value of 1, any other material has a higher value and the larger the index of refraction, the more slowly light travels in that medium.
When a light ray traveling in one material (air) hits a material with a lower IOR (Clear-coat) it reflects back but looses intensity due to attenuation.
The IOR will explain why layering makes the cars shine differently…
Each coat we apply will have a different index of refraction due to “build up”, different formulas (AIO,SG, Z1,,Z2 etc…) and the hundreds of things that can change at the microscopic level from one coat to the next.
What ends up happening with layering is that each coat will “scatter” light and reflect back different wavelengths, the more coats the more wavelengths are reflected and you get more shine in more colors.
The car looks WET, because light is reflected many times.
Wet objects shine more because you see the reflection from the water (with a certain IOR) and the reflection from the object (another IOR), plus the reflection of the light that is bouned back from the paint to the clear and then bouced back outside
So… Clean and polish to reduce attenuation (add depth)
Add a coat of protection we increase Shine
Layer to create shine and “Wetness”
Any rebuttals are welcomed... but I did warn you first that I have no credentials to prove this in any way…
[Edited by Belicoso on 08-02-2001 at 12:17 PM]