If photons bounce off of surfaces (get reflected), why does it immediately go dark after we switch off the lights?

Question

If photons bounce off of surfaces (get reflected), why does it immediately go dark after we switch off the lights?

In: Physics

Answer 1

The speed of light is incredibly fast – nearly 300,000,000 metres per second.

For all intents and purposes, everything that happens with light on Earth is instantaneous. Say you have a lamp, and a mirror 5 m away from the lamp. The amount of time it takes the light to travel the 5 m between lamp and mirror is measured in nanoseconds.