Ok so my question is, if you had a sphere completely closed off and mirrored on the inside. There is a source of light placed on the isde and truned on for say 5 seconds. Would the light continue to relfect and never discipate? Forever bouncing back and forth until it was let out? or would it slow down over a long time and eventually hover in the center of the ball. or none of the above?
2006-07-31 18:55:54 · 4 answers · asked by Joe Holloway 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
If you, somehow, created a monochromatic beam of light inside a mirrored sphere with 100% reflectivity, and somehow removed the source without allowing it to hit the beam, it would bounce around forever at the speed of light.
But there's no such thing as a perfect mirror and you'd have to have a pretty huge sphere to get the source out before the light hit it. And, oh yeah there's no such thing and a true monochromatic light.
Theoretically, yes.
Actually, no.
2006-07-31 19:01:01 · answer #1 · answered by Nick N 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To put it simply, without the science mumbo jumbo, that would be inpossible. Light moves to fast, and before you could close the ball after taking out the source outside light would fill the ball and escape the ball, so on and so on. Here's where the tricky part comes in though. Light is a ray, and particle at the same time. A particle of light is called a photon, and essentially a photon would be absorbed my metal(which is why when metal is in the sun it gets hot). On the other hand light as a ray(such as a gamma ray) needs to constantly be there in order for light to stay there. Photons make light, but they "cool" down quick and stop producing light. Theoretically, light could bounce in a mirrored ball for a while, but it wouldnt go on forever. it would escape one way or another. I hope i made that simple enough. Good question though. very good question.
2016-03-27 11:34:45 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Light is a wave. A wave can be blocked/reflected/refracted/slowed down by particles. Air is made up of particles. What do you think? Even if the centre was a vacuum, and the light just appears there, the mirror themselves are not 100% reflective (that is, it will still absorb some light). To prove it, put two mirrors opposite each other. Even though they continue to reflect each other, colour and definition are lost as the number of reflections increases. So no, it will not.
2006-07-31 19:13:11 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
hmm good question...
2006-07-31 18:59:55 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋