Visible light – Being an Electromagnetic wave is reflected by glass (take mirror). Would all other waves in the electromagnetic spectrum be reflected in the same way by our simple mirror… For highly intense X-Rays & gamma rays, take that the mirror is more stronger such that it could resist for at least 30 seconds. Well If the mirror would reflect, then would the EM waves be the same after several (take 30) reflections..?
(At each reflection, the photons scatter in different directions… Would the intensity and energy of EM waves remain same?)
Best Answer
A metal (read mirror) behaves rather differently depending whether the frequency of the incoming light is above or below the plasmon frequency.
if the frequency is below the plasmon frequency, the electrons move in order to screen the electric field. This yields an approximate boundary condition $\mathbf E|_\text{boundary}=0$ and thus to reflection.
if the frequency is above the plasmon frequency, then the electrons cannot move (because of their inertia) and the wave essentially just goes through (just like in an ordinary dielectric).
As the plasmon frequency for typical metals is around $10^{15}\,$Hz, visible light is reflected and $X$-ray is transmitted.