The original color of a mirror is technically white with a slight green tinge.
Here's a breakdown:
- Reflection and Color: Color, as we perceive it, arises from reflected light. Objects absorb certain wavelengths of light and reflect others. The wavelengths that are reflected are what we see as the object's color.
- Mirrors Reflect Most Light: Mirrors are designed to reflect almost all light that hits them. An ideal mirror would reflect 100% of light, meaning it wouldn't absorb any wavelengths and therefore wouldn't have a color.
- The Green Tinge: Real-world mirrors aren't perfect. They typically use a glass pane coated with a reflective material (often silver or aluminum). Glass itself has a slight green hue due to the iron impurities within it. Because the mirror reflects light through this glass, that slight green cast becomes subtly apparent.
Think of it this way: if a mirror was perfectly reflective and didn't have any coating that altered the light, it would appear "colorless" or white, reflecting back whatever light shines on it. The slight green we sometimes perceive is due to the properties of the glass used in its construction.
