What colour is a mirror?
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The colour of an object is dictated by the wavelengths of light that are reflected off the object's surface atoms. So, what does a mirror reflect back?
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By Robert Matthews, published on BBC Science Focus Magazine.
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In white light, which includes the wavelengths of the visible spectrum, the colour of an object is dictated by those wavelengths of light that its surface atoms fail to mop up. As a perfect mirror reflects back all the colours comprising white light, it’s also white.
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That said, real mirrors aren’t perfect, and their surface atoms give any reflection a very slight green tinge, as the atoms in the glass reflect back green light more strongly than any other colour.
Just to file the answer out a little more- MOST mirrors that you will see can said to be “green-“ with an additional caveat. Stud type of glass used in most common glass mirrors is slightly green- but the color of a given glass mirror will vary based on things like what type of glass is used. So not ALL glass mirrors are green- but the kinds most of us will see could be said to be green... except...
.... they aren’t really what you’d likely call green. You’ve never seen the color black- because you can’t see “black.” Black is a total absence of light. The closest you could come would be being in a dark room- in which you aren’t “seeing” “black” you just aren’t seeing because there’s no light- or a meta material like “vantablack” which ISN’T “black” but very close to it optically.
The chances you’ve seen “white” are also pretty slim. Those wedding dresses, that flag, the delivery can down the way? They aren’t “white.” They too are very slightly going to screw to one color to where if we measure the light coming off- it would be some “shade” or “hue” of white.
Mirrors could be said to be “white,” a sheet of paper is “white” but you don’t see your reflection in it because the light hitting it is scattered- it goes in all directions so doesn’t reflect a clear image. If a mirror didn’t reflect light in a focused pattern that produced a reflection- looking at it you might describe the color your eyes see as “white.”
So it becomes a question of technicality- if you go to a paint store you’ll see there are literally thousands of “white” paints- and how well any person can see the differences between them depends on several factors- but at some point the variance from “pure white” will become great enough that almost anyone would call the color eggshell or pastel or some “off white,” gray, etc.
Tl:dr- MOST common mirrors have glass that is slightly green. Not “green” like a beer bottle- but even when you see a window glass most from an angle will seem blue or green ever so slightly. You generally won’t in your life see a “pure” color that is “GREEN” or “BLUE” but a SHADE or variant- much like not all the “white” pixels in an image file are the same if you use “fill” but look the same to the naked eye. So it is both true and false to say (most) mirrors are green- AND both true and false to say most mirrors are white. It depends on the criteria you are using to determine what color you consider something- on a wavelength scale colors we might call “red” could actually be technically orange- and colors we might consider orange would not actually be orange.
That was interesting! Fucked with my mind a bit (I've always hated that we all don't see the exact same colors and no one is right or wrong about it) but it gives a nice perspective nevertheless.
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· 4 years ago
You can just look at the cut edge too see that it’s a very nice emerald-ish green.
it's not that it doesn't reflect green, glass used in mirrors have a green tinge to it because of impurities, optical crystal have these impurities removed, that's why they are crystal. Turn a piece of glass side ways, it's green, and it's not because it's not reflecting it.
It’s all nuanced and splitting hairs on definitions- but what is the “mirror”? As an assembly- the thing we call “a mirror” is usually some sort of reflective backing with a pane of glass in front of it. The reflective part of the mirror- the actual “mirror” doesn’t inherently reflect green more- the lens- the glass is tinted slightly green so the light that passes through to the reflective surface is filtered of certain wavelengths of light when passing to the reflector and back from the reflector. For accuracy we can say that “the light coming from mirrors of certain types (commonly in wide spread use such as those with borate silicate glass) will skew towards the wavelengths seen by the human eye as green, due to the natural properties of the type of glass used in these mirrors imbuing it with a slight tint that allows more wavelengths of light in the spectrum associated with the color green to pass than other wavelengths.”
We must define the term “mirror,” the type of mirror and its components, and what we mean by “green.” That blank paper in your printer is not “white” but you would say it is “white.” In actuality there is SOME wavelength which it reflects better than others- not all “whites” contain the equal- and proportional wavelength structure of a light wave. But... if it’s “close enough” we call it white because we see white.
Definition is important because “color” is something we see- but light exists outside the spectrum we can see. There are colors which you have never and likely will never see. Because we can’t see them- we don’t give them names in general use. So- many things you’d say are “Blue” for example- might reflect wavelengths at much higher rates than they do those in the visible range for “blue.” We would say that object is “really blue” but... it technically isn’t. You just cannot see the color that it REALLY Is.
The best way to think about this is to use color blind people- or certain other lifeforms like dogs to conceptualize it. A Dog cannot see red- it’s eyes lack the receptors. So when a dog sees a red object- that object is seen as another color or shade. If dogs had science- they would say a “red” ball is let’s say- yellow- because that is in their spectrum of visible light. The ball isn’t ACTUALLY yellow- we see it as red and an animal or machine with a larger visual range would see it as something else possibly.
The glass is green. The reflective surface of the mirror does not turn green. You can remove the reflector and stack just the glass and see green too. Chicken is not spicy, peppers are spicy. If you add peppers to a chicken you have spicy chicken- but the chicken isn’t spicy. Ex: you’ve never had chicken. You eat spicy chicken. You see some baked non seasoned chicken. You say “I’ll pass guys. That’s too spicy for me.” Everyone looks at you like a crazy person. The distinction is that SOME chicken dishes are spicy- but that isn’t the chicken- it’s the seasonings.
.
The colour of an object is dictated by the wavelengths of light that are reflected off the object's surface atoms. So, what does a mirror reflect back?
.
By Robert Matthews, published on BBC Science Focus Magazine.
.
In white light, which includes the wavelengths of the visible spectrum, the colour of an object is dictated by those wavelengths of light that its surface atoms fail to mop up. As a perfect mirror reflects back all the colours comprising white light, it’s also white.
.
That said, real mirrors aren’t perfect, and their surface atoms give any reflection a very slight green tinge, as the atoms in the glass reflect back green light more strongly than any other colour.
They said mirrors reflects green better.
What colour are they from a side view?
That's right, they're mu'fuggin green.