Science of Christmas lights

[Marine_N41_432]

Originally Posted by franalexes

Here's a question for any physics majors out there.
I'm sitting here by my window with a string of Christmas lights and against the background of the darkness of night I notice that the lights reflect off the window panes. I can understanf how the light reflects off the inside of the glass, but how does it reflect off the far side?
If I look closely there are two reflections on one pane of glass. The near surface and the far surface.
Explain it to me.

!

Leaving aside grandiose and over-complex definitions, all transparent material, whether glass, perspex, gasoline or even water, will act partly like a mirror seen at a suitable angle. If the angle between direct viewing ( e g 90* ) and the viewing direction is quite large, you will get some amount of reflection. ( Unsurprisingly, this is called " the Angle of Reflection " ). Of course you may also be still able to see through the material to see what is on the other side. If the viewing angle is relatively narrow, no reflection at all will happen.

Hope that helps a bit.