If a small amount of white light leaks into the darkroom during processing, how will the film appear?

When a small amount of white light leaks into the darkroom during film processing, it can cause the film to appear unusually black. This phenomenon occurs because photographic film is sensitive to light, and exposure to white light will cause it to develop dark areas.

The process of developing film involves transforming the latent image, which is created during exposure, into visible images. Light leaks expose parts of the film that were supposed to remain unexposed until they undergo processing in the developer solution. As a result, these areas turn black, resembling an overexposed film, which obscures the desired image.

The other options (gray, clear, and blue) do not accurately describe the effect of white light exposure during processing. Gray would suggest partial exposure or development, clear would imply no exposure occurred at all, and blue may refer to specific types of film or processing issues unrelated to light leakage. Thus, the film will primarily appear black due to the unintended exposure to white light.