I have heard from reliable sources that an apparently smooth metal surface is in fact not smooth at all, but under a microscope it is like a mountain range of irregularity. If this is the case, how does light reflect off it so evenly, why is the light not scattered everywhere?
billrussell42
Favorite Answer
It IS scattered. If it were not, the piece of metal would appear like a mirror, reflecting an image.
And that is what a mirror is, a very polished piece of glass with metal deposited on it, so the metal is very smooth.
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DaveWH
The imperfections in the surface of polished metal are very small, and do scatter the light. But if these imperfections are small compared to the wavelength of the light, the amount of scattering is small compared with the amount that is reflected.