CMU School of Drama


Thursday, August 20, 2015

What Color is a Mirror?

IO9: Popular answers to this question included “silver,” “white,” “whatever color it’s reflecting,” and “no color at all.” But most mirrors are actually very faintly green. Yes, green.

I love this question, because it reveals how a little bit of knowledge can, paradoxically, muddy our understanding of the world. What do I mean by that?

Consider that many people are at least somewhat familiar with how humans perceive color: The electromagnetic spectrum comprises a range of wavelengths that are visible and invisible to the human eye. The visible portion of the spectrum spans wavelengths from around 400 nm to 700 nm, with colors like violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red mapping to that spectrum in order of increasing wavelength:

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