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5. Silicon also has a diamond structure so how can we see through diamond but not see through silicon?
Why some materials are transparent and other opaque depends on band gap of material.if band gap is less than light (photon) excites electron to higher energy level then the photon will be absorbed. Since the photon never makes it out the other side, the material is opaque .
Band gap of si is 1.5eV and that of diamond is 5.47eV.diamond has large band gap as comparison to si.when visible light falls on si large amount of photon is absorbed in excitation of electron to higher energy level.in diamond this absorption is very low owing to its large band gap.thus light pass through diamond.
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