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I asked this question about what a strangelet would look like to the naked eye, and it was closed because it needed details or clarity. As far as I can tell, there was no need for either, because it was a simple question. Was there something I failed to elaborate on simply because I didn't know about it?

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  • $\begingroup$ The wording of the question sounds a bit vague at the moment and you appear to ask more than one question. (A perfect black body for instance absorbed light from all of the spectrum). I would reword it to ask what frequencies of light from the visible spectrum it reflects/emits. $\endgroup$
    – user400188
    Nov 4, 2021 at 3:30
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    $\begingroup$ For what it’s worth, the question votes were three “needs details or clarity” and two “opinion-based.” $\endgroup$
    – rob Mod
    Nov 4, 2021 at 4:45
  • $\begingroup$ @rob Really? Seems like that question wouldn't have an opinion-based answer. $\endgroup$
    – zucculent
    Nov 4, 2021 at 6:02
  • $\begingroup$ I think you could ask for, how would nuclear matter look. This is much lesser broad question, particularly if you specify the parameters (pressure/temperature makes it solid). And the answer is imho the "perfect mirror" version. It would be also likely crystallous and not amorph. $\endgroup$
    – peterh
    Nov 5, 2021 at 12:50

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Comment from ACM for if the OP is asking about the technical term strange matter

I'll note that even if one guesses that the question is about strange matter in the technical sense, that still doesn't tell us enough because "non-strange matter" also has extremely varied appearance depending on its actual atomic/molecular structure.

And if not...

Suppose we've found a piece of strange matter and have found a way to contain it so that we can examine it safely.

The premise is really unclear. The only thing we know here is that the matter is "strange" and we can examine it. Being "strange" is a very unclear and subjective term. Certainly this is not enough information to know what we are actually looking at here.

How would it appear to the naked eye? Would it be a perfect black body? A perfect mirror? Completely transparent? Something weirder?

How would anyone be able to answer any of this? All we know is that this is "strange". How is there any way to conclude this would be anything at all? What is "something weirder"? Weirder than what?

This question makes no sense, and there is no way to give a definite answer.

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    $\begingroup$ I'll note that even if one guesses that the question is about strange matter in the technical sense, that still doesn't tell us enough because "non-strange matter" also has extremely varied appearance depending on its actual atomic/molecular structure. $\endgroup$
    – ACuriousMind Mod
    Nov 4, 2021 at 9:58
  • $\begingroup$ @ACuriousMind Thanks, I had never heard of that term before. Based on the tags it looks like the OP might have meant that. $\endgroup$
    – BioPhysicist
    Nov 4, 2021 at 11:14
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    $\begingroup$ The lack of context for "strange matter" is one reason I voted to close. Also how would it appear to the naked eye is unclear: we haven't even seen regular nuclear matter. $\endgroup$
    – ZeroTheHero
    Nov 4, 2021 at 12:34
  • $\begingroup$ Should I have added a link to the Wikipedia page on strange matter so people would know what I was talking about? $\endgroup$
    – zucculent
    Nov 4, 2021 at 14:17
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    $\begingroup$ you should have added at least that, but more importantly you should take a bit (possibly more than just a bit) of time to make sure your question is clear in all aspects. Certainly it's clear to you, but you need to make sure it's clear to others who do not approach the question from the same frame of mind as you. $\endgroup$
    – ZeroTheHero
    Nov 4, 2021 at 14:36
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    $\begingroup$ I'm having a hard time seeing how someone who knows what strange matter is would have a hard time understanding my question. And how are there multiple frames of mind to a question like this? $\endgroup$
    – zucculent
    Nov 4, 2021 at 16:08
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    $\begingroup$ Well I for one did not read the question as per the wiki articles, but read "strange" as a synonym for "bizarre". This merely illustrates why your question is not terribly good: it fails to reach beyond a narrow scope of people with proper context. $\endgroup$
    – ZeroTheHero
    Nov 4, 2021 at 17:34
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    $\begingroup$ @ACuriousMind I think this is an answer and not a close reason. $\endgroup$
    – peterh
    Nov 4, 2021 at 23:56
  • $\begingroup$ @ACuriousMind Is there more than one kind of strange matter? Do I need to specify whether it's hot enough to be incandescent? Should I ask about the color or shape? $\endgroup$
    – zucculent
    Nov 5, 2021 at 18:48

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