- #1
Curious1977
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I've been curious about this question and hope that someone can provide a definitive answer with support for that answer.
Is it possible to directly see your own reflection in water?
From my understanding of reflections and my own observations I would say that it's not possible to directly see your own reflection in water. Below are details for why I think this. Please comment on why you think I'm right or why you think I'm wrong.
The strength of reflections varies based on the viewing angle. In computer graphics this is referred to as fresnel effect. Not sure if it's called something different in the physics community. The greater the angle of incidence the more reflective a surface will be. Very interesting effect. Often you'll see a surface that has only minimal reflectivity when viewed straight on but when you move to the side the reflection intensifies, sometimes even becoming mirror like. In order to see your reflection in something the angle of incidence can't be too great. Using a mirror as an example if you step to the side, increasing the angle of incidence, your reflection will move out of your own view. Of course with a mirror you can stand straight on and see your reflection, but water isn't as reflective as a mirror so the angle of incidence needs to be greater to see reflections. So it appears to me that with water you'd need to be at a viewing angle that's almost straight on to see your reflection but since the angle needs to be fairly great to see reflections in water these two things essentially make an impossible situation in which you can't see your reflection in water.
Hope that made sense. I should also say that my thoughts above are assuming that water isn't reflective at all at a straight on angle. It would guess that water is at least a bit reflective at a straight on angle but perhaps not reflective enough to notice your own reflection.
I'd love read peoples responses that explain in detail why or why not this is possible.
Thanks
Is it possible to directly see your own reflection in water?
From my understanding of reflections and my own observations I would say that it's not possible to directly see your own reflection in water. Below are details for why I think this. Please comment on why you think I'm right or why you think I'm wrong.
The strength of reflections varies based on the viewing angle. In computer graphics this is referred to as fresnel effect. Not sure if it's called something different in the physics community. The greater the angle of incidence the more reflective a surface will be. Very interesting effect. Often you'll see a surface that has only minimal reflectivity when viewed straight on but when you move to the side the reflection intensifies, sometimes even becoming mirror like. In order to see your reflection in something the angle of incidence can't be too great. Using a mirror as an example if you step to the side, increasing the angle of incidence, your reflection will move out of your own view. Of course with a mirror you can stand straight on and see your reflection, but water isn't as reflective as a mirror so the angle of incidence needs to be greater to see reflections. So it appears to me that with water you'd need to be at a viewing angle that's almost straight on to see your reflection but since the angle needs to be fairly great to see reflections in water these two things essentially make an impossible situation in which you can't see your reflection in water.
Hope that made sense. I should also say that my thoughts above are assuming that water isn't reflective at all at a straight on angle. It would guess that water is at least a bit reflective at a straight on angle but perhaps not reflective enough to notice your own reflection.
I'd love read peoples responses that explain in detail why or why not this is possible.
Thanks