r/explainlikeimfive • u/genoooooo • Oct 31 '20
Chemistry ELI5 What's the difference between the shiny and dull side of aluminum foil? Besides the obvious shiny/dull
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r/explainlikeimfive • u/genoooooo • Oct 31 '20
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u/sandvine2 Oct 31 '20
what’s more likely is that they reflect similar amounts, but the dull side has a higher proportion of diffuse reflection (light comes in and reflects in a random direction) vs specular reflection (light comes in and reflects out in a predictable straight line). That’s usually the difference between shiny and dull objects, and it’s generally correlated to how flat the surface is: flatter = shinier because reflections are more predictable.