Visual poll on durability?

K

Ken B

New member
The following is just a theory I came up with based on very little knowledge of physics and too much marketing experience… so please take it with a BIG grain of salt…



I believe I came up with an explanation based on physics of why layering products works to increase the shine and "wetness".



The “Shineâ€� is the reflection of light as it hits the paint and “Scattersâ€�… as light waves travel through the paint, they elastically collide with the atoms and light is scattered in to many wavelengths as a result.

i.e. the car shines in many colors as it interacts with the atoms in the paint and clear-coat.



Attenuation is the decrease in magnitude of power of a signal, dirt increases attenuation “absorbing� light and not allowing it to hit the clear-coat, and than absorbing the light that did reflect back



So we spend many hours cleaning the car to reduce attenuation.



Index of Refraction (IOR) is a way of measuring the speed of light in a material. It is the ratio of light velocity in a vacuum to its velocity in a given transmission medium. Light travels fastest in a vacuum, such as outer space. (The actual speed of light in a vacuum is 300,000 kilometers per second, or 186,000 miles per second.)



Index of Refraction is calculated by dividing the speed of light in a vacuum by the speed of light in some other medium. The Index of Refraction of a vacuum by definition has a value of 1, any other material has a higher value and the larger the index of refraction, the more slowly light travels in that medium.



When a light ray traveling in one material (air) hits a material with a lower IOR (Clear-coat) it reflects back but looses intensity due to attenuation.



The IOR will explain why layering makes the cars shine differently…



Each coat we apply will have a different index of refraction due to “build upâ€�, different formulas (AIO,SG, Z1,,Z2 etc…) and the hundreds of things that can change at the microscopic level from one coat to the next.



What ends up happening with layering is that each coat will “scatter� light and reflect back different wavelengths, the more coats the more wavelengths are reflected and you get more shine in more colors.



The car looks WET, because light is reflected many times.



Wet objects shine more because you see the reflection from the water (with a certain IOR) and the reflection from the object (another IOR), plus the reflection of the light that is bouned back from the paint to the clear and then bouced back outside



So… Clean and polish to reduce attenuation (add depth)

Add a coat of protection we increase Shine

Layer to create shine and “Wetness�



Any rebuttals are welcomed... but I did warn you first that I have no credentials to prove this in any way…



[Edited by Belicoso on 08-02-2001 at 12:17 PM]
 
Belicoso...you explanation works for me! :cool:



[Edited by Gonzo0903 on 08-02-2001 at 04:35 AM]
 
while waxing her car, but she says "just shut TFU and finish waxing my car!" She is an unsophisticated lout!
 
rotation of the earth, multiplied by the gravitational pull of the earths gravity (represented by 9.8 m/s squared), you can find the amount of light shining on your car in the. . . . naah, never mind. You said it much better than most. Hey, your theory sounds good to me.
 
But if you take into account Planks 'Black body radiation' which says that light hitting a pure black object (he did not say anything about Blitz though) will be reflected at a different frequency. So maybe I dont have a black car after all.
 
That was funny! I lauged outloud on that one. I am not sure what the refraction index on bird poop is, but I am sure that it is not too high.



I think that in some unexplainable way, birds recognize nicely cleaned and maintained cars over dirty ones, and practice strategic bombing runs (their favorite time to do this must be right after you finish putting the last coat of SG on the car).
 
Reminds me of the movie ConAir during one scene where a guy got bird poop on his detailed car and then a dead body smashed into the hood.



Hope this does not happen in real life..just keep it in the movies.



Jason
 
that makes sense to me.



the idea of light scattering or reflection in the layers of coat sure makes sense. it gives you the deep wet gloss look since it can reflect light in different angles.
 
There was a post on another web site (related to oil) that has a detailing section.

Someone posted this shot and bragged about how well the LSP is holding up. It is clear that everyone's definition of durability is not the same so that is why two people can disagree since some agreed with the poster and others disagreed.

From this picture alone, what opinion would you offer on LSP condition if you saw this?

100_2049.jpg


a. good condition
b. fair condition
c. basically gone

Just curious...
 
For me, I would put it somewhere between "fair" and "basically gone".

It seems as though there was obviously some protection on the paint, but it looks like it is at the end of its life cycle, but not quite gone yet. Maybe it's got a week or two left (depending upon conditions).
 
I know when mine gets that look my drying time takes longer and the chamois/drying towel starts to stick and grab onto the finish. I would think it's time to slick her up again.
 
.... C ....

Looking at the water drops and seeing that they are of various sizes and having random pattern. My guess would be if a picture was taken of a non-protected panel it would be close to the one shown as a example.

Paul S
 
Paul S said:
Looking at the water drops and seeing that they are of various sizes and having random pattern. My guess would be if a picture was taken of a non-protected panel it would be close to the one shown as a example.

Paul S
Click to expand...

I generally think that cars that are non-protected have one big "water bead" covering a particular panel. Recently, after I had finished wifey's ride, it rained and I was in a shopping mall parking lot examining different finishes. The cars that didn't have any protection at all, let the water sit in one big blotch.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top