• breadsmasher@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    The lamp in the mirror is a reflection of light from the real lamp. The real lamp is producing light. The mirror lamp is a reflection of this light. The reflection doesnt add to the amount of total light

        • XEAL@lemm.ee
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          10 months ago

          Let’s define “more”.

          Yeah, we’re not troll sciencing light out of nowhere, but if the lamp is next to a mirror instead of a wall, the room will have more illumination, because the mirror is reflecting the light emitted by the lamp better than a wall will do.

          • diverging@lemmy.ml
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            10 months ago

            the mirror is reflecting the light emitted by the lamp better than a wall will do.

            Will it? Maybe. You are making the assumption that specular reflection is better at reflecting than diffuse reflection, but that is a false assumption. It depends on the reflectivity of the wall and the mirror. A white wall can reflect more light than a mirror.