I've always wondered, if mirrors just reflect, then why do they look silver?
2007-07-16 23:35:07 · 9 answers · asked by John Smith 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Alternative ➔ Other - Alternative
Most modern mirrors consist of a thin layer of aluminium deposited on a sheet of glass. This layer is called the Tain. They are back silvered, where the reflecting surface is viewed through the glass sheet; this makes the mirror durable, but lowers the image quality of the mirror due to extraneous reflections from the front surface of the glass (ordinary glass typically reflects around 4% of the light). This type of mirror reflects about 80% of the incident light. The "back side" of the mirror is often painted or coated in some way to completely seal the metal from corrosion.
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http://vision2form.nl/mirror_history.html
2007-07-18 14:34:56 · answer #1 · answered by kokopelli 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
a highly reflective surface. The sorts of mirrors one sees on walls or in bathrooms are of a type known as back-silvered mirrors. This means that the reflective surface--in most modern mirrors this is aluminum--is viewed through a thin layer of glass. The glass protects the aluminum from scratching and bubbling, but also distorts the image somewhat.
Early mirrors were created by simply polishing a suitable substance until it became highly reflective. Neolithic mirrors have been discovered, made by grinding down obsidian rocks and polishing them to an incredible sheen. These mirrors have remarkable properties, allowing even subtle details to be clearly seen in their reflections.
2007-07-17 11:06:49 · answer #2 · answered by sparks9653 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Mirrors look silver because silver is a "white" metal. That means it reflects all colors of light pretty equally. A mirror made of polished bronze would not look silver because it would reflect yellow light more than other wavelengths. It would make as much sense to say that a mirror looks "tin", because tin is a metal which reflects colors equally. So does chrome; so a mirror looks chrome as much as it looks silver.
2007-07-18 21:39:31 · answer #3 · answered by PoppaJ 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because the aluminum (what the mirror is actually made of --- evaporated aluminum on glass) has a silvery color to it intrinsically.
But the smooth, specular finish of the mirror is what is needed to also reflect light. Light of many wavelengths, even those we can't see (with). Those light rays come from an object, strike the (silvery) mirror bounce from its surface and into our eye, along with the silver, but it's such a neutral color it is usually not noticeable in the overall image, and any alteration in color is also not usually noticed either.
2007-07-20 13:58:58 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mirrors are made of a highly reflective metal. You can make them out of bronze, steel, or just about anything else that doesn't distort the image. Most mirrors are made of steel which is a metallic gray.
2007-07-18 12:39:24 · answer #5 · answered by flibbitygibet 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mirror,are just clear pieces of glass,with silver painted on one side,the back.
2007-07-19 05:35:20 · answer #6 · answered by Life goes on... 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
They look like silver, because most mirrors are, infact, made of silver.
2007-07-18 13:34:05 · answer #7 · answered by Brandon B 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Did you know it takes two scales to measure the weight one scale?
2007-07-20 20:56:31 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its the material used to back them!
2007-07-17 06:36:56 · answer #9 · answered by Sal*UK 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋