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A standard planar mirror will not increase the energy contained in the rays that reflect off it. In fact, there will be some loss of energy since the reflective surface is not perfect. There is some reduction in the light's intensity as it passes through the mirror's glass and reflects off the backing surface. Parabolic mirrors, on the other hand, focus and concentrate the light rays on a single point in front of the mirror, aptly named the focus. Although the energy is not amplified, it will be effectively increased because of the additive effect that will result when the light energy is concentrated. To clarify, the "rays" of the sun, i.e. the photons (energy), do not have any temperature at all, they interact with matter and heat the matter up.

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14y ago
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14y ago

Light and heat are different frequencies of the same electromagnetic radiation. So in a very real sense, light IS heat.

And yes, reflected sunlight can heat things up, sometimes even better than direct sunlight can. Solar water heaters frequently utilize an array of mirrors to focus sunlight onto the heating vessel, and focusing enough reflected sunlight to a small enough target can be enough to vaporize steel.

On a more domestic level, it's easy to build reflective "solar cookers" that use several mirrors to focus sunlight onto a cooking pot, allowing you to have a stove wherever there is sunlight.

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Q: Does sunlight reflected off a mirror increase the temperature of the sun-rays?
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Continue Learning about Astronomy

What roofing color absorbs less heat and sunrays?

white reflects the most sunlight, the only thing that reflects more is a mirror.


What are the rays from the sun to the moon called?

Moonlight. it is the light that comes to Earth from the Moon. This light does not originate from the Moon, but is actually reflected sunlight. In many legends and fantasy games, moonlight is an important part of magical processes (for example, werewolves transform at full moon).


What causes sunrays?

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What causes the moon to give off so much light?

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What is a kid friendly definition of ionosphere?

The ionosphere is the part of the earth's atmosphere (the layers of gases that surround the earth and stay there because of the earth's gravity) where sunrays are able to ionize some of the gas substance. This means that the gas substances, because of the high amounts of energy in the sunrays hitting them, lose or gain electrically charged particles (such as electrons, the tiny charged particles orbiting the atom core, or ions, larger, electrically charged particles) and themselves become electrically charged. Electrical charge is responsible for the fundamental force of physics called electromagnetism, which is what creates magnetism and electricity. Because of this electromagnetism in the ionosphere, when large bursts of sunrays hit the atmosphere from time to time the amazing northern lights and southern lights, the auroras, become visible in the far north and far south of our planet.

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What has the author Paul Konrad Hoenich written?

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What roofing color absorbs less heat and sunrays?

white reflects the most sunlight, the only thing that reflects more is a mirror.


What are the rays from the sun to the moon called?

Moonlight. it is the light that comes to Earth from the Moon. This light does not originate from the Moon, but is actually reflected sunlight. In many legends and fantasy games, moonlight is an important part of magical processes (for example, werewolves transform at full moon).


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