You made a perfect box out of two way mirrors, (the kind they use in interigation rooms) and made it so the reflective sides were all facing in and the see through sides were outside. Would the light collect inside? Would there be any way to trap light?
2006-11-09 16:21:14 · 9 answers · asked by Timothy C 5 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
No surface can be 100% reflective. If you shot, say a laser at the most reflective surface possible, the reflected light would be less than the original beam.
There is no material that can allow light in and no light out. If you did create the sphere, you would need a little hole to aim a light source at, then you would have to close it quickly with the light source still shinning at the hole. Theoretically, with a 100% reflective surface and a vacuum inside the sphere, it would bounce around forever, until you broke it. A small flash would be seen, but the light energy would not compound and blow up.
2006-11-09 18:00:19 · answer #1 · answered by Brendan R 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Indeed, you have your mirrors installed the wrong way around! The see-through sides need to be facing in, and the seemingly reflective sides need to be on the outside. You see, in an interrogation room, when people look "into" the room, the light is actually passing from the room, through the glass into their eyes. The key is the lighting. In those interrogation rooms, if the light inside is turned off, with the light outside on, it is very evident that not 100% of the light inside is being reflected.
Anyway, what you want is totally internally reflective mirror walls, which allow light from the outside to enter. As an earlier answerer said, you won't know what is going on inside the box, because as soon as you open it, light will escape!
2006-11-10 02:08:01 · answer #2 · answered by Mez 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This question is a contradiction of terms.
A one-way mirror IS NOT perfectly reflective. The reason you can see "one-way" (only if the ambient light on the observers side is less than on the active side) is because it allows a small amount of light to escape.
Regarding the complete and total capturing of light within some shape (cube, sphere,etc.) - it is similar to the "cat in a box" riddle. How would you know that the light was contained? Because if you open the shape to see, the light could escape (assuming it was contained in the first place). Maybe it hadn't been contained? If the container was PERFECTLY reflective (assuming no absorption), you you would not be able to observe the inside of the container. You wouldn't be able to use "detectors" either because they rely on photon absorption as well).
That is one of the problems in particle physics. There is evidence to support the idea that by observing a particle, the observer fundamentally alters the properties of the particle.
Good question though.
2006-11-10 01:33:22 · answer #3 · answered by Scarp 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, if you had a perfect one way mirror that let light through one side but not the other, then yes, it's possible in theory. But then again, so are perpetual motion machines. It's a case where theory tells us that such a thing could happen, but in reality, we could never find a one way mirror that's perfectly reflective on the other side (it would let some light through, and absorb some light too).
The only way to trap light is with a black hole. A black hole has an escape velocity that exceeds the speed of light. Basically, not even light can travel fast enough to escape the gravitational pull of a black hole (hence the "black" bit). Now what happens inside a black hole is anyone's guess.
Hope this helps.
2006-11-10 00:28:26 · answer #4 · answered by CubicMoo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You've got your theoretical thinking hat on tonight, eh?
If the one way mirrors were "perfect" reflectors with no "leakage", I strongly suspect that the light (photons) would sooner or later impart their kinetic energy to the mirrors and would not be "trapped" but would eventually all be absorbed by the sides of your box.
Incidentally, photons are massless and have no electric charge - therefore, they cannot be "trapped" using magnetic or electrical fields.
2006-11-10 00:48:43 · answer #5 · answered by LeAnne 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ah...but if people can see into the room from the other side of the two way mirror, light must leak out.
Hey - nice hat to the person above!
2006-11-10 00:27:38 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
<>This is one of those "theoretical" questions. You are asking if it is possible to trap photons- light particles. The true answer is probably way more complicated than the "perfect box and mirror" and probably will, if and when it happens, require some type of restraining field, either electrical or magnetic.
2006-11-10 00:28:35 · answer #7 · answered by druid 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think they have a physical model or the optical one of a perpetual motion machine yet.Correct me if I'm wrong.
Sincerely... Steven
2006-11-10 01:13:09 · answer #8 · answered by sdevin1962 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
no, but good question...
2006-11-10 00:24:04 · answer #9 · answered by underwaterer1 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋