The colors of peacocks and hummingbirds are the result not of pigments, but of ridges in the surface layers..?

of their feathers. By what physical principle do these ridges produce colors?





A)Reflection


B)Diffraction





Explain.The colors of peacocks and hummingbirds are the result not of pigments, but of ridges in the surface layers..?
Actually the plumage of an peacock is due to optical interference. This is what is written in wikipedia about the plumage of a peacock





....Many of the brilliant colours of the peacock plumage are due to an optical interference phenomenon (Bragg reflection) based on (nearly) periodic nanostructures found in the barbules (fiber-like components) of the feathers........





Optical interference is the addition (superposition) of two or more waves that results in a new wave pattern.





As most commonly used, the term interference usually refers to the interaction of waves which are correlated or coherent with each other, either because they come from the same source or because they have the same or nearly the same frequency.The colors of peacocks and hummingbirds are the result not of pigments, but of ridges in the surface layers..?
id assume diffraction the ridges will act like prisms
The reflecting of the particles does not affect the frequency of the wave. there-fore the ridges do not produce colors because of the way they reflect.





On the other hand, diffraction cannot occur unless a light wave is passed through a medium into another medium. And since it seems like the light is not passing through anything in the wings... I' m not sure which physical principle it would be.





To set yourself to rest, i would go with diffraction, Even though it contradicts what i just said. haha good luck

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