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[–]magnora7[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Brings to mind the question: What is the difference between something that is super white and a mirror? They both reflect 100% of light.

The answer is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffuse_reflection

It's interesting metals do not have diffuse reflection (and are thus mirrors) because they do not allow photons to penetrate even the outermost layer of atoms. All white things allow some amount of photons in at least for the first few layers of atoms, which are eventually reflected back out. However as they bounce around going in and out, they change angle. So if you shine a laser at a white wall you will see the laser point on the wall from every angle in the room. But you only see a laser off a mirror if your eye lines up with the beam.

A photon on a metal immediately bounces off without any penetration, every single photon of every frequency bouncing off the outermost electron orbital layer of the outermost atoms. In metals, the outermost layers all band together to create a continuous electron "shell" for the whole material, called the "band layer" and this band shell is what makes metals electrically conductive.

[–]magnora7[S] 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Not the best test of the idea perhaps, but it's an interesting concept to think about.

[–]IkeConn 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

That shit won't work in the South.