What is a specular material?
(of reflected light) directed, as from a smooth, polished surface (opposed to diffuse ). A specular surface is a highly smooth surface. When the surface is very smooth, the reflected highlight is easy to see.
Why can’t you see your image on a concrete wall?
Answer. Answer: You get diffuse reflection off a wall instead because of the rough surface, and as result, the light rays don’t converge (or appear to converge) like they do in a mirror, so you don’t see an image form.
Why can’t you see your face when you look at a white wall?
You get diffuse reflection off a wall instead because of the rough surface, and as result, the light rays don’t converge (or appear to converge) like they do in a mirror, so you don’t see an image form. If you painted your walls with a very smooth layer of paint, it would look shiny and you might see yourself in it.
Why can’t you see your reflection on a white wall?
White is the color that reflects all the visible wavelengths that make up the color spectrum. The reason that you can’t see your reflection in a sheet of paper is because white objects scatter light in all different directions, while mirrors reflect light back in the same direction they came from.
Why can you see a reflection of yourself in a shop window but not in a brick wall?
The main difference between the brick wall and a mirror is the flatness of the surface. The morphology of the surface will determine whether you will observe specular or diffuse reflection. In the case of the brick wall the image is distorted so much that the only thing you see is the color of the brick.
Why can you see your reflection in the mirror instead of the mirror?
The key factor is a smooth surface, because rough surfaces scatter light instead of reflecting it. Your eyes see these reflected photons as a mirror image. The mirror image is reversed, which you can easily see if you stand in front of a mirror with a shirt with words on it.