if you had a hollow sphere that was mirrored inside, completetly sealed whith a camera set on timer to flash would the light from the flash be in there forever and would you see it if you opend the sphere
2006-12-13 05:32:31 · 8 answers · asked by bumble 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
yes, and when you opened the sphere it would escape, and travel on indefinitely, but that would depend on the type of mirrored surface, some mirrored surfaces would gradually break down the photon energy into it's parts and the light would gradually dissipate. Think of a prism. do not know if there is a completely reflective agent in existence but that is a fascinating quandary.
2006-12-13 05:56:55 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes and No
Yes, if the interior surface of the hollow sphere behaves an absolute mirror with no fraction of incident light absorbed. In that case, the light will keep bouncing inside the sphere.
No, because the above condition is only theoretical and may not be practical to make something (hollow sphere) like that.
2006-12-13 13:39:24 · answer #2 · answered by Manohar 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unfortunately No even if the mirror is perfect, because the camera is in the sphere as well...Sooner or later the light will be absorded by the camera and die down.
A good proposition though.
Cheers
2006-12-14 08:28:30 · answer #3 · answered by ddntruong 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How would the light get inside? If the camera was inside then the camera would absorb the light eventually, if it was outside then the light would not get inside.
Also the mirror would never be perfect and as such some of the light energy would be lost with each refection.
2006-12-13 13:39:37 · answer #4 · answered by monkeymanelvis 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
no. Mirrors do soak up some amount of light because they are slightly colored themselves. If you've ever looked in a "mirror in a mirror" you see that things get distorted and more green as the reflection goes on.
2006-12-13 13:39:58 · answer #5 · answered by Cody P 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If the mirrors were perfect, yes
2006-12-13 13:35:50 · answer #6 · answered by Gene 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no mirror is perfect so the light wouldn't last long, (remember the velocity of light) however theorically it is true it could stay there.
2006-12-13 13:35:13 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
nope
2006-12-13 13:48:58 · answer #8 · answered by obvlious_to_the_obvious 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋