(ORDO NEWS) — In fact, the gases are not invisible: many of them are quite brightly colored. For example, nitrogen dioxide is brown-orange, chlorine is yellow-green, and iodine vapor is bright purple.
However, we do not observe all this in everyday life, for the reason that such atmospheric gases of our planet as nitrogen (pure, under normal conditions), argon, oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapor absorb light not in the optical, but mainly in the ultraviolet. and infrared ranges.
There is a “golden mean” between the absorption spectra of these gases, which ensures insignificant absorption of light. In other words, the gases around us are visible, but not in the optical range we are used to.
And so we, people, living and evolving on this planet, adjusted to the peculiarities of its conditions. Our eyes are arranged in such a way as to perceive the surrounding gases (namely, the dominant ones) as a transparent substance. Otherwise, we would go crazy en masse watching everything glow and shimmer around us.
Conclusion: gases are visible, but the structural features of the human eye make them invisible. Reality is subjective, folks.
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