Question

how do metal and wood look different?
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Answer 1

Answer:

Metals are composed of atoms that bind into a regular crystalline lattice, and when they do so, the outermost electrons of the atoms spread out, delocalize over many atoms, and become effectively free (called "conduction electrons"). When light of any color hits a metal, the electric field in the light exerts a force on the electrons in the metal. Because they are free, the conduction electrons can respond almost perfectly to the light, oscillating in time, and therefore almost perfectly reflecting all colors of light. Therefore, almost all metals are shiny white/gray (the color gray is really just a less bright version of white) because white contains all colors.

Wood is a very complex combination of large biological molecules that are mostly not metals. Without conduction electrons, the electrons in non-metals are bound in molecules and cannot perfectly respond to the light, so some of the light gets absorbed and only certain colors get reflected, depending on the details of the way electrons are bound in the wood's molecules.

Answer 2

Metal and wood are both solid forms of elements but their atoms and properties have a huge difference.      

Explanation:  

• Metal and wood are solid elements but have different properties due to their atoms.  
• While metals are lustrous and have a shiny surface, wood is not shiny. In fact, it does not have a shine at all and looks very rough from the outside.    
• Metals are sonorous and make sounds when struck on the surface. On the other hand, wood does not make a sound when struck on the surface.  
• Metals are great conductors of electric current. On the other hand, wood is not a good conductor of electricity.