When we think of a mirror, we instinctively picture it as being gray, even though we know that‘s actually not the case, and that a mirror just reflects whatever color surrounds it. In a sense, a mirror has no distinct color at all.Even drawings and cartoons of mirrors always portray them as gray. What is it that makes us think this way?
Well, to be blunt, the back of mirrors are gray! The glass reflects what is in front of it but behind the glass is a grey background. In addition, in terms of cartoons, usually mirrors aren't that important so instead of taking the time to draw a reflection they color it grey because that is the only color that could possibly resemble class, (we wouldn't be able to see 'clear' in a drawing.
Not gray, actually silver. The way a mirror is made, is a sheet of silver foil is laid onto the glass, and the silver does the reflecting, not the glass itself. I found myself thinking about this in class, and I also remembered that the ancient Romans used copper mirrors, which still reflected light, but appeared copper. Our mirrors appear slightly silver, just much less noticible.
maybe its because we associate reflectiveness with silver and another way to depict silver is grey
