Perpetual Light

I'm posting this as a total curiosity. I realize the materials and situations involved are purely hypothetical, so bear with me.
Imagine a glass sphere, whose inside is made of a 100% reflective material. The sphere is totally impermeable to heat or matter exchange, save for a small aperture. Through that aperture you shine a bright light, illuminating the inside of the sphere. You keep shining in light until, suddenly, you close the aperture in an instant and seal off the sphere with the light inside. What happens to the light inside the sphere?
Will the photons forever bounce around? If you crack the sphere open a day later, would there still be some form of discernible light inside?
Will the photons slowly lose energy with each collision until they disappear?
What if we're dealing with a real sphere made of real materials. What then? Is the light lost as heat?
I appreciate any answers to this odd question. Help me understand what I'm missing!

I don't see any reason why not, since we're dealing with ideal materials here, the photons would just bounce around.

There would be for a fraction of a second before the stored light escapes.

I may be wrong, but I don't believe that photons lose energy in the reflection process. If there was, the loss would be extremely small.

Real materials aren't 100% reflective, so yes, the light would be lost fairly quickly. A certain percentage of photons reflect or penetrate any given reflective surface, depending on the quality of the surface. After a few hundred bounces, most of the light would be lost.

If Onion01 has questions, I'll let him respond. You don't appear to have anything to contribute.

This is just RC trolling again.

He can hardly write a sentence with using a /

What do you want him to do, educate you on the entirety of physics to appease your vague and open-ended insistence?

This is RC trolling.

It's already established that he can't be educated.

Besides, the initial replies need no elaboration, they're complete and concise.

rpenner, can you IP ban this troll?

[Moderator: I would, but I have just about convinced James R & co. that the Astronomy/Cosmology section on sciforums.com needs a new moderator. As long as he is posting here, he's not talking to that more professional science forum.]

This post has been edited by rpenner on Apr 25 2012, 03:56 AM

Contrary to what you might think, asking vague questions gets you vague answers.

Actually, I think this instance illustrates your inability to comprehend or participate in a scientific discussion. You didn't reply to anything I said in particular, you asked a pointless question that had nothing to do with the topic.

You're an idiot.

I'm really looking forward to seeing your little "sub-forum project" deleted. Seeing that here made me think twice when I first joined.

And right there, folks, is the mantra of the so-called expert who run away from a question they can't answer properly. Their 'parroting' without comprehension of what the question is about does not pass, so they tell people they are ignorant etc etc. Blame the victim/questioner to rationalize away your own failure. What a Pretty Polly mantra in lieu of facing up to the question! Good luck with that legacy!

No, that was actually a question that you just hypocritically "ran away from".


Apparently being able to play pretend that you knew anything about physics was the very thin veneer on your complete barking delusion.

I love seeing this question here, because I have been pondering this same situation for a long while now. If it were possible to create a 100% reflective surface, SOOO many possibilities open up.

Anyone happen to know, off the top of their heads, what the best reflective surface achieved so far would be? It would still be nice to have access to a lab where I could build a few pieces of equipment and check a couple of personal theories.

And the Whinning Bitch Troll continues.

Wow, Whinning Troll, you're really wacked.

You are a woman right ? Are you still at Sciforum ? Say Hi to the gang for me or you can Alex . I miss my friends there . Course a bunch of them have seemed to have left the area . Many still there though . I like to think they are friends anyway

Wow I been using that imagery. Circle jerk and the guys are reaching over to the guy next to them . They make a complete circle with out any brakes by way of hand holding and stoking "members" . Yeah the Girls like it a lot . Like Muslims and there 72 virgins kind of thing or Fundy Mormons and there plural wives. It makes them hot to think about it .

So who wants to be a Mormon like Mitt if they could have plural husbands . I know several woman who would join in a heart beat if that was the case .

I understand freedom of information quite well and is my plight in life by exiled feelings of isolation . 63 year old male . Your feminine side is coming out . I am 54 and feeling emotional rushes . Mano pause ! Mainly reflection of what just happened in the last 54 years and howd I end up on the short side of the equation. Honesty seems to be my biggest hangup when it comes to success. I should have learn cheat by now .

Anyway I don't know if you valid grounds and you hypothesis is sketchy. I am not a Grim Reaper crony . Yeah I like the guy and all that and well I don't know how he feels about Me , but thus far I have no warn slashes . That is a good sign in my book of self. That is how it is is it not . Fill the slashes and your out of here except your guess post ?

Now I do have some reservations by calling Sciforum more professional than this place. mainly cause of my Banning though . The management could not handle the truth is how I see it . I feel bad for Frag cause he read my last posts that got Me banned. He is going to have to live through the same pain I did by being similar to me in relationships . We are close copies by localization . Real close copies . His wife is like mine just by being a citizen of the U.S. and having assess to the same library of information . We understand the same memes by media indoctrination. What I said is coming out in the media so well he has to go through the same pain as I did when I found out . It should not have been any real surprise is the thing , but it is more like a banana. Not in my back yard kind of thing.

Anyone mad about my off topic . It seemed done . The question at hand . If you got a perfect reflecting surface the light will bounce off the surface perpetually. O.K. then that is a go then ?


[Moderator: Suspended 7 days for failure to connect with rational dialogue or science.]

This post has been edited by rpenner on Apr 27 2012, 04:04 AM