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Multiple Plane Reflections
Name: Richard
Status: student
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
This question is difficult for me to phrase, so I will do
my best, and then attempt to make a "diagram" What would you see, if
you looked through a two way mirror, and on the other side, somebody
held up a normal mirror? It would be a reflection of a mirror. I
have gotten an answer that you would see nothing. This seems
logical, but nothing is invisible.
DIAGRAM O ---> |---> | \|/ |--->| | | <---| /\ |
PERSON 1 NORMAL MIRROR 2 WAY MIRROR
Replies:
Richard,
Actually, it depends on what is on the other side, other than the
mirrors. If no light is on beyond the 2-way mirror side, you would see
darkness. If there is light turned on, you would see a little bit of
glare, but not much else. If the mirrors were perfect and the lights
were off to the sides, you would see darkness. For your eyes to
register light, light must enter your eyes. For light to enter the room
you sit it (provided you have no lamps behind you), light must enter
from beyond the 2-way mirror. To do this, light must reflect from the
far mirror. To do this, light must reflect from the 2-way mirror. This
continues on. If there is no source of light that can reach your eyes,
your eyes do not respond: darkness. It would be very much like looking
through a window between two rooms, neither of which has a light.
Because mirrors are not perfect, a little light from the side can
produce a slight image on the far mirror. This would be like what a
small lamp to the side can produce on the inside of your window as you
look out into the darkness at night (with no streetlights and no moon).
If the mirrors have a maximum size to them, you could get a slightly more
dramatic effect. Imagine a line of mirrors, each the size of the
mirrors. You look through the whole line of the mirrors, perhaps
thousands. Between each window is a copy of the room in which the
mirrors exist. Beyond the row of thousands of mirrors is pure darkness.
Dr. Ken Mellendorf
Physics Instructor
Illinois Central College
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Update: June 2012
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