A question was posed where I work today. What's the difference between transparent, translucent and opaque?
Well I got opaque completely wrong, thinking that it meant foggy or misty. Apparently it means no light passes through it or something like that.
Even more troublesome was transparent, especially when someone asked if a mirror was that, transparent. But no, mirrors could be said to be opaque as light doesn't pass through them.
A further slippery scenario given was where a obviously transparent object like a small window can be clearly seen in the opaque mirror. Does the mirror render the reflection of the window opaque as well?
And what about a lamp reflected in a mirror? Can the reflection be classed as a light source and thus make the mirror transparent?
I cannot see clearly and my head hurts!
Good grief - what are they teaching kids these days ? Opaque does not allow any light through, translucent allows light but not an image, transparent allows clear visibility. A mirror reflects both an image and light. A mirror does not optically change the nature of the reflection, so it would not render anything reflected in it any differently from he source image. An image viewed through a translucent panel, would be visible as tones of light and dark and colour, but the image would not be clearly discernable.
ReplyDeleteha ha, its like stuff the Riddler would come out with! Riddle me this!
DeleteA lamp reflected in a mirror is a virtual image. It would be a source of virtual ray's! There, that's made things really clear now!
DeleteSo is a virtual light not a real light Kev? I suppose what Im asking is whether light reflected from a mirror capable of illuminating anyth8ng? Its hard to even form the question!
DeleteA virtual image is one you could see with your eyes but it could not be projected onto a screen. It is formed from virtual Ray's meeting. Really, it's real Ray's that would have met if something wasn't in their way!
DeleteI am not a physicist, so I do not know the what the technical answer to light reflected from a mirror would be, but here is my version. If light is being reflected by a mirror, then it is the same light that initially hit the mirror, it has simply changed direction. The light does not cease to exist once it hits the mirror, and is then copied and sent back out, like a Mysteron clone. I have used a mirror to reflect light on to the 'dark' or shadow side of an object when photographing it, and the reflected light illuminates the shadow side just fine. I will take some photos to show what I mean (photos are going to be a lot clearer than my explanation), and send them in.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with that. (On paper, at least, I am a physicist!).
ReplyDelete