Black Shiny Surfaces

[potterfan3]

How do black shiny surfaces reflect things? I know that shiny surfaces reflect things but for something to be black doesn't it have to absorb all the light?, so there should be nothing to reflect

[rojash]

The reflections you see are from the very surface (which in the case of a car for instance, is usually a clear coat). The white paint underneath will reflect much more scattered light than the black (for obvious reasons). Hence, the surface reflections will be overwhelmed by the scattered light from the white paint, but not by those of the black.

[SteveD]

There was a similar question a couple of days ago:

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Science/Questio n275732.html

[mibn2cweus]

. . . In addition a smooth surface has two properties that give it mirror qualities. A smooth surface has less surface area for photon absorption. Also, light that is reflected from a smooth flat surface is reflected at angles that mirror the angle of incidence thereby maintaining image coherence.

As clearly stated in previous posts, black makes an excellent backdrop for partially reflective (shiny) surfaces.