This luminescence is accelerated by light scattering particles. When sunlight shines on Polar bear fur, it causes a reaction known as luminescence This happens every time the beam of light makes contact with the side of the hair. This energy bounces around inside the hollow part of the hair causing a reaction called luminescence, which is an emission of light. When the sun’s rays hit off of the Polar bear’s transparent guard hair, some of this light energy travels into the hair and gets trapped. The Power of Optics!Īll of these special characteristics of a Polar bear’s guard hair work with the power of light to make Polar bears appear white. Here are the special characteristics of guard hairs: they are coarse, tapered (gradually come to a point) and have a hollow core filled with air they are made of a protein called keratin they have light scattering particles inside them and have tiny salt particles that sit between each hair. These guard hairs are mostly transparent or clear, but thanks to some special characteristics that work to create cool optical tricks, these hairs appear white. Their answer takes us deep into the world of what Polar bear hair is made of and on an exploration of optics, which is the science of light and vision.Ī Polar bear’s coat has two layers of hair: an outer layer, made up of long (5-15cm) guard hairs and a thick undercoat, made up of shorter hair. Earlier this year we asked you what colour you think a polar bear is? The answer is pretty surprising! Polar bear hair is actually mostly clear and their skin is black! So how come they look white? We asked some top scientific minds to explain it to us.
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