If I put a mirror in a room with a lamp will I get twice as much light?

So, one candle and a lot of mirrors would light a whole house?

the light will reflect, but continue to dissipate with the distance squared or something ... you will have a brighter room, but not twice as bright

LoneStarXC wrote:

So, one candle and a lot of mirrors would light a whole house?

You would need a match too.

If you put the mirror behind the light source you can redirect the light that would be wasted on the back wall towards the center of the room.

It will be brighter, but not twice as bright. Perhaps 10% to 30% brighter.

stateroftheoblivious wrote:

If you put the mirror behind the light source you can redirect the light that would be wasted on the back wall towards the center of the room.

It will be brighter, but not twice as bright. Perhaps 10% to 30% brighter.

Sqrt(2) as much brightness.

I’m stein wrote:

Dies a mirror double the light intensity in a room or just reflect the same amount of light around a room? I suppose there are the same amount of photons but they are less likely absorbed by the mirror?

be careful, if you put two mirrors on opposite sides of the room, brightness will go to infinity and your house will explode at an exponential rate.

The second sentence is correct. It's like white walls versus dark walls in a room, white absorbs less light and the room is brighter. Typical household mirrors have the coating on the back surface and don't reflect very efficiently compared to front surface mirrors. Front surface mirrors can be 98+ percent reflective over large wavelength ranges, to the point that it can be hard to actually see the surface.

I’m stein wrote:

Dies a mirror double the light intensity in a room or just reflect the same amount of light around a room? I suppose there are the same amount of photons but they are less likely absorbed by the mirror?

physucks wrote:

the light will reflect, but continue to dissipate with the distance squared or something

Not if the mirror is parabolic! Then all the light is reflected to just one spot.

If you built a giant parabolic mirror around the edges of a room and stepped inside, you wouldn't be able to see anything unless you stumbled across the focal point, at which point you'd be burned to death by your own reflection.

Sometimes you need a mirror to shine a true light on your soul

Yeah but you'll reflect twice as much darkness too. So it will all balance out.

Put Bekele in a room and he lights it up literally like a Christmas tree

I’m stein wrote:

Dies a mirror double the light intensity in a room or just reflect the same amount of light around a room? I suppose there are the same amount of photons but they are less likely absorbed by the mirror?

STOP! Y o U Will Cr e a te a BLACK hole and D e stroy the Cos Mic Framework and the Uni VERSE willlll collapse.

This is what destroyed Atlantis.

Good thread. You almost scored the trifecta of letsrun 'tards posting simultaneously.

Bad Wigins, Hardloper and Banana Bread.

But then they are all the same person.

8/10

Banana Bread wrote:

Put Bekele in a room and he lights it up literally like a Christmas tree

yes, duh

theJeff wrote:

Banana Bread wrote:

Put Bekele in a room and he lights it up literally like a Christmas tree

Have you been asleep, jeff?

lim (n-->infty) 2^n wrote:

[quote]I’m stein wrote:

be careful, if you put two mirrors on opposite sides of the room, brightness will go to infinity and your house will explode at an exponential rate.

True. The ancient Greeks melted out all is Sparta using this principle before it was largely forgotten. Tesla is working on it now.

Or cbrt(2) in a 3-dim room wrote:

stateroftheoblivious wrote:

If you put the mirror behind the light source you can redirect the light that would be wasted on the back wall towards the center of the room.

It will be brighter, but not twice as bright. Perhaps 10% to 30% brighter.

Sqrt(2) as much brightness.

Brightness is a measurement based on area. So it would be Distance Traveled/4πd^2.

Dullest candle on the cake wrote:

LoneStarXC wrote:

So, one candle and a lot of mirrors would light a whole house?

You would need a match too.

a lit candle with a magnifying glass in front of a series of mirrors will light the whole house if all walls are mirrors.