how mirrors seem to be the color of what they are reflecting while also looking silver.

Question

I have been wondering this since I was a child and it’s never been explained in a way I can understand.

I’m looking at my bathroom mirror and it looks silver. But how is that possible because it’s reflecting whatever is in front of it?

So when I look at the reflection of the towel in the mirror i see blue, when I see the reflection of the wall I see white, when I see the reflection of the shower curtain I see the color of the shower curtain. But when I look at the mirror as a whole it seems silver?

I think I have read that mirrors have silver backings which makes sense why I see silver. But I don’t understand how it’s possible to see the exact reflection of my bathroom but it’s also silver?

In: Other

Answer 1

Take a close look at airbrush art that portrays large sections of silver or chrome and identify each of the colours section by small section. You’ll see there’s no silver in it. But if you stand back, you see “silver”. Mostly the shiny surface is just white with other colours mimicking a reflected surface.