Color Perception and Reflective Surfaces

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If light bounces off objects multiple times and a part of the visible light is absorbed, why is a white wall still white when the light has already been partially absorbed by other objects and no pure white light is being transmitted further?

Why do objects not appear more colorful or in the “wrong” color, if the rooms is filled with different objects, considering that white light should become less white with each bounce as light is partially absorbed?

In: Physics

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

The light source in the room (presumably white) will always give out much more light than any object just reflecting a small part of this light source. Hence why white objects will still look predominantly white.

But if you bring a colored object close to a white surface, you’ll definitely start to see some coloration on the white surface.

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