Mirror is the color of whatever is reflected on it. But in the movies and books, the mirror is portrayed as silver. Some say the mirror has no color, some say it is green.
What Is the Color of a Mirror?
But studies say that, mirror is nothing but a greenish block of soda-lime with a shiny back. The majority of the household mirrors we have are constructed using soda-lime silica glass substrate and a silver backing. This combination of both substances is what gives mirrors their greenish color. But it will be difficult to prove just by staring at the mirror of your own reflection.
What Is the Actual Color of a Mirror?
- A. White color
- B. Green
- C. Grey
- D. Silver
In “Bad Astronomer”, Phil Plait explains, “A white shirt just reflects light back everywhere in all directions. Even if red and blue light hit the shirt coming from the same direction, they may get scattered in different directions. A mirror, on the other hand, reflects the blue and red light in the same direction, and so the mirror actually builds an image of the source of the light.”
Parallel to the study, white color reflects all colors in all different directions, in a process known as a Diffuse Reflection, whereas mirrors reflect colors straight back in the direction its facing as a concentrated source, which is called a specular reflection. It reflects all light in a single direction equal to what it receives. Specular reflection creates an image of whatever object is in front of it. But most mirrors we use aren’t perfect.
In the 2004 study, “Virtual tunnels and green glass: The colors of common mirrors”, some of the researchers said, “the optical core of most common mirrors”.