Forums > Social Discussion > What colour is a mirror?
Login/Join to ParticipatePooh-Bah
1,750 posts
Location: london, United Kingdom
Whilst dozing in the sun, for some reason I was thinking about mirror's and what angle they reflect (must have been half dreaming I don't know...). My dad answered the question explaining that the light bounces off at the same angle on the other side of the right angle. Ah yes I thaght. Then we got to the subject of why a mirror is not white and white things are not mirrors. We think it's because white things are bumpy on its surface and mirrors have shiney surfaces. But, if mirrors are not white, what are colour are they?
Any thaughts on this?
Please note these questions have no purpose but I thaught I'd share them
EDITED_BY: jemima (jem) (1223814244)
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Pooh-Bah
1,872 posts
Location: Canada
Yes, angle of reflection equals angle of incidence,
By what colour, do you mean other than silver ?
Pooh-Bah
1,750 posts
Location: london, United Kingdom
but is silver a colour? and not all mirrors are silver, or even called a mirror and are just shiney things...
Never assume
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Juggler/Spinner
612 posts
Location: Hicksville, New York, USA
Mirrors aren't silver, they're clear. =)
After all, if it wasn't clear you wouldn't be able to see things in it. It's like a window when it's dark outside, you can see a reflection....
=) heh
99 posts
Location: canada
a mirror is whatever colour/colours it is reflecting.
atleast a theoretical perfect mirror is.
The less people know the more they believe
Carpal \'Tunnel
2,895 posts
Location: Cambridge UK
mirrors are shiny
or light green
or really smooth surfaces (ie with no bumps)
I guess it depends on your definition of a mirror
Because ActiveAngel sounds like a feminine deodorant
Like sex, I'm much more interesting in real life than online.
'Be the change you want to see in the world around you' - Ghandi
15,417 posts
Location: South Wales
Jem.... are you ok?
Mirrors don't have a colour - the glass is clear(ish) and the backing to it is silver
HOP librarian
1,841 posts
Location: Prague, Czech. Republic
More grey, then dark.
reality,
:R
POI THEO(R)IST
HOP Mad Doctor
13,925 posts
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA
Up until 1958, mirrors were made of glass backed with a thin layer of silver. However, in 1958 Frank Evans and John Whipple, working together at AT&T's Bell Labs discovered a new color, hyper-purple.
Items that are hyper-purple are very interesting in that they aren't purple at all. In fact, they are only purple to hyperdogs, for whom this is the only color they can see. Now, for humans, hyper-purple is an odd color because it allows to see directly across hyperspace and into a mirror universe where everything occurs exactly as it does in our universe...except backwards. The British even drive on the right in this alternate universe (I know, shocking, right?)
Thus, all modern mirrors are actually hyper-purple.
-Mike
Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella
A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura
Pasta of Muppets
2,722 posts
Location: in the interwebs..., United Kingdom
You know, that's actually quite convincing.
ohmygodlaserbeamspewpewpew!
Unofficial Chairperson of Squirrel Defense League
4,061 posts
Location: South Africa
Amazingly so....
'We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." [said the Cat.]
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "Or you wouldn't have come here."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
HOP Mad Doctor
13,925 posts
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA
Originally Posted By: =Flashpoint=You know, that's actually quite convincing.
Originally Posted By: astonAmazingly so.... Thank you! *bows*
-Mike
Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella
A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura
coming to a country near you
4,696 posts
Location: home of the tiney toothy bear, Australia
i was skeptical at "hyper purple", but yeah it was pretty convincing.
"but have you considered there is more to life than your eyelids?"
jointly owned by Fire_Spinning_Angel and Blu_Valley
Pooh-Bah
1,750 posts
Location: london, United Kingdom
That clears that one up then
Never assume
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