why is an image clear in a shiny spoon but fuzzy in a tarnished spoon?

1 Answer
Mar 6, 2018

The surface of a tarnished spoon is not smooth and thus will cause reflection in many directions.

Explanation:

The rays of light will bounce off the surface they hit at the same angle with respect to the angle that it hits the surface. That is, the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.

On a shiny spoon, the surface is smooth. Thus, light hits the spoon, the reflected light is the same as how it entered, which produces a clear image. On a tarnished spoon, however, the surface is not smooth. Thus, the reflected light will go in all different directions, which creates an unclear, or fuzzy image,