Aerogel Block — World’s Lightest Solid in Light
112.09 €
A silica aerogel block photographed in backlight and sidelight simultaneously — the extraordinary lowdensity material visible as a pale blue translucent block whose Rayleigh scattering produces the same blue colour as the sky.
Description
Silica aerogel — with a density of approximately 1.9kg/m³, just slightly denser than the air it contains — is one of the most visually extraordinary materials in existence. Its 99.8% air composition and its 15nm silica nanoparticle framework produce a blue colour from Rayleigh scattering of the same type that makes the sky blue, rendering the block simultaneously transparent and blue-tinted, solid and apparently insubstantial. This image was made with a dual-light setup: a bright LED backlight to reveal the material’s extraordinary translucency, and a sidelight to reveal the block’s geometric solidity. The resulting image captures both simultaneously — the block appears as a slightly blue-tinted glass, solid at its edges and in its surface highlights, yet transmitting a soft blue light through its interior. A small object placed behind the aerogel block is visible through it as a blurred silhouette.
