Quote - ... Now when we model a volume of translucent material with sheets like this, we're letting each sheet represent a slice of the volume. The more of these we use to model the volume, the more transparent each sheet needs to be. Using calculus, if we take the limit as the number of sheets approaches infinity, and the thickness of each slice approaches 0, it exactly models a volume. And in that limit, the effective transparency is T ** D, where D is the distance that the light has to pass through.

If the distance is infinitely long then the amount of light passing through is T to the infinite power, which is 0. But for any distance that is not infinite, then the transparency is greater than 0. So this is interesting. A translucent material of finite thickness cannot block all the light. There is always some non-zero amount that can get through. 

BB, would you post your calculus equations?  Unfortunately mathematical notations are not part of our standard keyboard although they really should be.  Please use whatever notations you wish to indicate their corresponding math symbols, e.g., sum for summation, S for integration (the elongated S), {lim x->0} for limit as x approaches zero, etc.