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Is a mirror's surface transparent, translucent, or opaque? How do you know?

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Last updated date: 07th Sep 2024
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Answer
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Hint: A mirror is a piece of glass that reflects light. When focussed via the lens of the eye or a camera, light that bounces off a mirror reflects a picture of whatever is in front of it. Mirrors reflect light in an equal but opposite direction, reversing the direction of the picture. This allows the spectator to see themselves or things behind them, as well as objects that are in their field of view but are at an angle from them, such as behind a corner.

Complete answer:
Opacity is a measurement of electromagnetic or other types of radiation impenetrability, particularly visible light. It explains the absorption and scattering of radiation in a medium, such as a plasma, dielectric, shielding material, glass, and so on, in radiative transfer. An opaque item is neither transparent or translucent (allowing all light to pass through) (allowing some light to pass through). When light collides with two substances, part of it is reflected, some is absorbed, some is dispersed, and the rest is transmitted. Light can be diffuse, such as when it reflects off a white wall, or specular, such as when it reflects off a mirror.
Because an opaque substance can not transmit light, it reflects, scatters, or absorbs all of it. Carbon black and mirrors are both opaque. The frequency of the light being evaluated determines the opacity. For example, while some types of glass appear clear to the naked eye, they are largely impenetrable to UV light. The absorption lines of cold gases show more severe frequency dependency. Opacity can be measured in a variety of methods; for example, check the page on mathematical opacity descriptions.
Because you can't see through a mirror, it's an opaque item. A mirror is not a transparent item since it reflects the light that comes towards it, allowing us to see our image in mirrors. As a result, whereas mirrors are opaque, glass is transparent.

Note:
A mirror's reflecting surface is opaque because we can't see what's behind it. If it were transparent, it would be a window rather than a mirror since light would flow through rather than reflect back. Some light would travel through the mirror while others would reflect, resulting in an ambiguous appearance.