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What Color is a Mirror?

Answer – The real color of a household mirror is white with a faint green tint.

Explanation: 

The electromagnetic spectrum consists of wavelengths that are visible and invisible to human eyes. The visible segment ranges from approximately 400 nm to 700 nm, with colors such as violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red correlating with this spectrum in ascending order of wavelength. Objects that reflect all visible wavelengths are perceived as white.

Mirrors reflect all visible wavelengths, but they aren’t white. This is because mirrors, by comparison, exhibit “specular reflection.” In this phenomenon, when light strikes a mirror, it remains undivided into its constituent colors, causing all wavelengths to be reflected at equal angles. As a result, an image of the light source is produced. However, most mirrors used are not perfect and are composed of a soda–lime silica glass substrate and a silver backing. Therefore, they reflect green light, often imparting a greenish hue to the objects they reflect.


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