magic box

[dk_psy]

say you had one-way glass, i.e. one side a mirror, the other see-through. say you made a perfect cube using 6 square sheets of it with the mirror side on the inside. what would it look like on the inside?

might be a completely nonsensical question, but thought I might ask, plus i needed an excuse to say nonsensical.

[gen2]

One-way glass as such does not exist.  What you describe is more accurately called a half-silvered mirror where the silvering is extremely thin and only reflects about half the light that falls on it.

Which side of the glass you are on has nothing to do with what you see.  It all depends upon the level of illumination.  If one side is brightly lit and the other is dimly lit (or not lit at all) then the person on the dimly lit side will see through the glass as if it were plain glass.  A person on the brightly lit side would see reflections as it it were a mirror.

It is similar to those old-fashioned net curtains.  On a bright day, the person inside can see out but those outside cannot see in.  At night, if the light is on in the house, the reverse is the case.

[dk_psy]

i know it doesn't exist perfectly, but what if it did?

[fo3nix]

it'd be darker than it is outside, and you'd see infinite amounts of whatever is in the box (i.e. you).

[mycatis]

dont know but cool question :)

[dk_psy]

cheers! tiz a puzzler!

[gen2]

No fo3nix, as I explained above, if it is darker inside, then a person inside will not see reflections but will see out as if it were plain glass.  An observer outside would not see in since the surfaces of the cube would all appear reflective and they would see their surroundings reflected in the cube faces.