We found a Spindle Tree at Watchtree Nature Reserve. We surprised to find one so far north. Note the lovely red flowers. I teach that things are red because they reflect red but absorb the other colours of the spectrum that fall on them. The combination of the colours makes up white light. Quantum theory leads to some uncomfortable thinking for me. What do I mean by absorb? I'd normally mean that the photon energy matches an electron energy level jump so an electron jumps up. But that's what happens with the red. Then the electron falls and re-emits a red photon as far as I understand it. I'd say that the other photons are ignored by the atom as their energies don't match electron level jumps. So where do they go? They don't go though the object or else it would seem somewhat translucent. This needs working on.
