A question, or theory (maybe) about light?

[aommaster]

This was something i wan thinking about yesterday.

 

Imagine a room, where no light can enter or espape. It. There is NO light whatsoever. You can't see a thing. You are inside the room (just imagine this).

 

Now, u have a flashlight. When u start it, you will see a beam on the walls of the room. Shouldn't the room evenutally start to get brighter overtime? Since the light is only reflected off in all directions, no light is lost. Or is there something I am missing?

[YT2095]

something your missing

 

how big is the room? now factor that in against the speed of light!

sure, what you said is 100% correct, but would take only a Femto Second to do it in

then the light by the time YOU see it will be the result of the maximum reflections alowed and photon cancelation by absorbtion.

 

but sure if you could slow down time in that way you would indeed see the beam leave your torch, hit a wall, scatter and bounce off other surfaces untill all the original photons have been absorbed and are followed by the next wave that meet the same fate resulting in an over lighting lux density

[aommaster]

what if the walls were mirrored, then, there is nothing to absorb it but urself? Let's say, u did not absorb any of the light and the walls were mirrored, then would it work?

[YT2095]

mirrors ANY mirrors will have imperfections and so eventualy it will lose photons, but supposing you had the perfect mirror and nothing to absorb the light, then you would end up with the same lux density filling the room as that emited by the torch

[psi20]

I read somewhere that if we were to accelerate to the speed of light, our mass would be infinite. Is it true? What's that supposed to mean?

[Atlantic]

Doesn't mean anything. Thats just a theory.

 

Its like saying "If you cut a tomato without cutting it, you would become twice your size :)" Prove it

[aommaster]

YT2095 said in post # :

same lux density filling the room as that emited by the torch

 

You keep on using the word 'lux'. What does it mean exactly?

[YT2095]

it`s a unit of light illumination

[aommaster]

but won't it eventually fill the room, so it beomces very bright, as more light is being emitted?

[Radical Edward]

the individual photons would lose energy and the room would heat up as you got more and more IR radiation. Eventally the room would reach thermal equilibrium and have a black body spectrum with the peak somewhere in the IR. This is assuming no heat loss to the outside world too, if there is, then you would just end up with the BB spectrum of the outside world, asuming that it is big enough to act as a reservoir.

[aommaster]

oh ok. Thanx alot guys!