What Color Is a Mirror- Vsauce
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-yrZpTHBEss
I'd love to just tell you the answer but I never understand a word this guy says, best of luck to you though.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-yrZpTHBEss
I'd love to just tell you the answer but I never understand a word this guy says, best of luck to you though.
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"Silver" is approximately a "color" we associate with surfaces that reflect specularly and do not absorb any frequency disproportionately. "Color" is a perceptual phenomenon, so it doesn't have to be limited to the idea of a single-frequency light beam.
Specular reflection is reflection that follows the rule angle of incidence equals angle of reflection. The opposite is diffuse reflection, in which light coming in from all angles is mixed and then emitted equally in all directions.
"White" is the diffuse reflecting counterpart of "silver". Note that something "white" doesn't necessarily emit white light. It emits whatever light is shining on it, but looking at a white piece of paper in a darkroom with a red light on, we do not say the paper has suddenly turned red because it is emitting red. It is still white because the concept of white is to emit the same colors that shine on it; it's still doing that. In fact our minds automatically "correct" for the red color we see and still perceive it as white without us consciously realizing we're making an adjustment. It doesn't have to be that extreme; standing in a forest, white paper will emit slightly greenish-gray light, but we still say it's white.
Likewise a mirror might be emitting any color of light toward you when you look at it, but the color of the mirror is not the color of the light it emits, just as the white paper is not red. The color of the mirror is the description of the function for how it affects light. The most applicable word we have for that function is "silver".
Specular reflection is reflection that follows the rule angle of incidence equals angle of reflection. The opposite is diffuse reflection, in which light coming in from all angles is mixed and then emitted equally in all directions.
"White" is the diffuse reflecting counterpart of "silver". Note that something "white" doesn't necessarily emit white light. It emits whatever light is shining on it, but looking at a white piece of paper in a darkroom with a red light on, we do not say the paper has suddenly turned red because it is emitting red. It is still white because the concept of white is to emit the same colors that shine on it; it's still doing that. In fact our minds automatically "correct" for the red color we see and still perceive it as white without us consciously realizing we're making an adjustment. It doesn't have to be that extreme; standing in a forest, white paper will emit slightly greenish-gray light, but we still say it's white.
Likewise a mirror might be emitting any color of light toward you when you look at it, but the color of the mirror is not the color of the light it emits, just as the white paper is not red. The color of the mirror is the description of the function for how it affects light. The most applicable word we have for that function is "silver".
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None or any, depending on if it is in the dark or if light is striking it.
The first mirrors were made of polished metals like silver, gold, brass, bronze, steel. The Venetians invented glass mirrors by trapping mercury behind glass panels. Modern mirrors are made with aluminum coatings. Metal mirrors can have chromium coatings.
The first mirrors were made of polished metals like silver, gold, brass, bronze, steel. The Venetians invented glass mirrors by trapping mercury behind glass panels. Modern mirrors are made with aluminum coatings. Metal mirrors can have chromium coatings.
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Silver. A glass mirror has clear glass with silver reflective material on the back and other mirrors are polished silver toned metals.
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it is in fact a steely bluish color.