So i like studying physics, and i was wondering… If i am correct, mirror looks like mirror because it reflects light… And paper seems “white” because it reflects light..
Yet we can’t see our reflection… Why?
In: 3
A mirror reflects light coherently, so that the pattern of incoming light matches the pattern of outgoing light. Paper scatters light in every direction, so you do not get a coherent reflection.
In a mirror reflection, any point you look on the mirror you are basically seeing light from a specific point in the room that is hitting the mirror at just the right angle to enter your eye. With paper, every point on the paper is reflecting light to your eye from everywhere in the room that that point on the paper has “line of sight” to, which generally averages to white.
Latest Answers