What would I see inside a sphere with mirrored walls?

[dmp]

Any takers?

 

[no1tovote4]

Any takers?

If it was entirely enclosed you would see nothing. You need light to see. If you happened to have brought a flashlight, likely nothing as the reflecting light would quickly blind you.

 

[The ClayTaurus]

If it was entirely enclosed you would see nothing. You need light to see. If you happened to have brought a flashlight, likely nothing as the reflecting light would quickly blind you.

Probably not true, as mirrors do not reflect 100%. You would probably see a distorted or multiple distorted reflections of yourself. The answer changes based on where your eyes are within the sphere.

 

[Hagbard Celine]

No1tovote4 is right about the light, but if you had light, you would see a kaleidoscopic-like image all around you made up of all the colors on you (your skin, hair, clothes, etc.). The image would be concave like it is when you look at yourself in a spoon.

 

[The ClayTaurus]

No1tovote4 is right about the light, but if you had light, you would see a kaleidoscopic-like image all around you made up of all the colors on you (your skin, hair, clothes, etc.). The image would be concave like it is when you look at yourself in a spoon.

No, you wouldn't.

 

[The ClayTaurus]

You dinged me over a discussion about light refraction inside a sphere?

You wouldn't see a blur of colors because mirrors do not refract 100% of the light. Even if you could somehow locate your eye in the absolute center of the sphere, your own body would be absorbing light and interrupting the infinite refraction you're referring to that would lead to a blur of colors.


You seriously just dinged me over that?

 

[Hagbard Celine]

You dinged me over a discussion about light refraction inside a sphere?

You wouldn't see a blur of colors because mirrors do not refract 100% of the light. Even if you could somehow locate your eye in the absolute center of the sphere, your own body would be absorbing light and interrupting the infinite refraction you're referring to that would lead to a blur of colors.


You seriously just dinged me over that?

haha, sorry. I'm a little punchy this morning. I stayed up all night writing a paper. Don't take it to heart, I've got a small rep so it only took off a point. Sorry again. I realized it was un-called for and I've been trying to rep you for your "partisan :blah2:" post in "michelle got this one right," but the forum's telling me I've got to spread it around first.

 

[The ClayTaurus]

haha, sorry. I'm a little punchy this morning. I stayed up all night writing a paper. Don't take it to heart, I've got a small rep so it only took off a point. Sorry again. I realized it was un-called for and I've been trying to rep you for your "partisan :blah2:" post in "michelle got this one right," but the forum's telling me I've got to spread it around first.

'Tis ok... I don't really care much about the whole rep thing, just wondering why this set you off when I've had much worse posts against you. Cheers

 

[no1tovote4]

Probably not true, as mirrors do not reflect 100%. You would probably see a distorted or multiple distorted reflections of yourself. The answer changes based on where your eyes are within the sphere.

This would depend largely on the size of the sphere and the candle power of the light in question. While mirrors do not reflect 100%, they do multiply the output of the light, it is likely if the sphere were small enough that you would be light-blind quickly, not retina-burned permanent blindness, but an uncomfortable spots in the eyes type of blindness.

 

[GotZoom]

Any takers?

A Graviton.

Or Dolly Parton.

 

[Shattered]

haha, sorry. I'm a little punchy this morning. I stayed up all night writing a paper. Don't take it to heart, I've got a small rep so it only took off a point. Sorry again. I realized it was un-called for and I've been trying to rep you for your "partisan :blah2:" post in "michelle got this one right," but the forum's telling me I've got to spread it around first.

It didn't even take off a point. You can "deduct" half of what you're able to give (rounding down).

 

[manu1959]

You dinged me over a discussion about light refraction inside a sphere?

You wouldn't see a blur of colors because mirrors do not refract 100% of the light. Even if you could somehow locate your eye in the absolute center of the sphere, your own body would be absorbing light and interrupting the infinite refraction you're referring to that would lead to a blur of colors.


You seriously just dinged me over that?

lol....funny tried to rep you but is says i am a rep whore

 

[Hobbit]

A perfectly spherical mirror would reflect all light towards its center. If you kept your eyes away from that focal point, you'd be fine. Of course, you should probably keep everything else away from that point, as well, because of the heat buildup.

 

[The ClayTaurus]

A perfectly spherical mirror would reflect all light towards its center. If you kept your eyes away from that focal point, you'd be fine. Of course, you should probably keep everything else away from that point, as well, because of the heat buildup.

That is entirely not true.

 

[Hobbit]

That is entirely not true.

It's pure math. A sphere is two partial parabolas stuck onto each other. A parabola reflects all light towards its focus, which is why sattellite dishes are parabolic. While the rest of the sphere would not be completely dark (there's light bouncing everywhere, it just all passes through a single point), the center would be quite bright, as it would be the focal point of all reflections. If the light was intense enough, an object set in the dead center would heat up and possibly combust, as every photon that entered the room would eventually hit it.

 

[Max Power]

It's pure math. A sphere is two partial parabolas stuck onto each other. A parabola reflects all light towards its focus, which is why sattellite dishes are parabolic. While the rest of the sphere would not be completely dark (there's light bouncing everywhere, it just all passes through a single point), the center would be quite bright, as it would be the focal point of all reflections. If the light was intense enough, an object set in the dead center would heat up and possibly combust, as every photon that entered the room would eventually hit it.

That's not true. A sphere is not parabolic.

 

[Hobbit]

That's not true. A sphere is not parabolic.

Yeah, I just looked it up, and I was wrong. My bad.

 

[Hagbard Celine]

Your nuts.

 

[The ClayTaurus]

It's pure math. A sphere is two partial parabolas stuck onto each other. A parabola reflects all light towards its focus, which is why sattellite dishes are parabolic. While the rest of the sphere would not be completely dark (there's light bouncing everywhere, it just all passes through a single point), the center would be quite bright, as it would be the focal point of all reflections. If the light was intense enough, an object set in the dead center would heat up and possibly combust, as every photon that entered the room would eventually hit it.

Parabolas aside, your comparison of a satellite focusing all waves to a point is invalid because the light waves are not running in a uniform direction; they would be radiating from a point source. The satellite thing works because the wave field that it's in is uniform:

http://mathcentral.uregina.ca/RR/database/RR.09.95/weston1.html

 

[Max Power]

Parabolas aside, your comparison of a satellite focusing all waves to a point is invalid because the light waves are not running in a uniform direction; they would be radiating from a point source. The satellite thing works because the wave field that it's in is uniform:

http://mathcentral.uregina.ca/RR/database/RR.09.95/weston1.html

For reflecting from a point to a point, you'd want an elipse. One focus of the elipse will send light to the other focus. A sphere is an elipse where the two focii are coincident.

The parabola will focus from a point to infiniti (or vice versa)