Will a lightbulb work in a completely black room?

puffin24

As title suggests. Cant find anything on google. If a room was totally painted black with no light coming in and nothing else in it what would it look like if you turned a light on?

OutlawPete

Of course it would work.

Sure what good would torches be in a dark room if it didn't?

Marcus_Crassus

Are you serious?

It would look like a bulb hanging in the middle of a dark room..

It would look like a room painted black.

I don't get the problem.

GetWithIt

?? Seriously?

minidazzler

How black is black? Are you in the room? If there is anyway whatsoever to reflect light you will see something. at very least you will see the beam of light.

chin_grin

It'd look like a black room with a light in it.

the_syco

Depends on the paint, the black wall may or may not give a reflection.

amdublin

Ha ha ha ha!

This has to be the best question ever!

And the answers are even better

are you on drugs?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Egt1Hq4wpE

Immaculate Pasta

Racist.

DEFTLEFTHAND

What has you asking OP?

Joe Exotic

In the interests of science i reccomend you go home and try it this weekend.

come back when you have the answer:D

carchaeologist

puffin24 wrote: »

As title suggests. Cant find anything on google. If a room was totally painted black with no light coming in and nothing else in it what would it look like if you turned a light on?

You would see the black walls very well with the light on....

Cill Dara Abu

puffin24 wrote: »

As title suggests. Cant find anything on google. If a room was totally painted black with no light coming in and nothing else in it what would it look like if you turned a light on?

Is the tv license inspector lurking around or what?

Victor

It would work (black paint won't break a lightbulb), just the room wouldn't look quite as bright as a normally painted room. It you held your hand up by the light, it would look little or no different from when you looked at your hand in another room.

Of course, black paints tend not to be perfectly black. Gloss paint would have a shine to it.

puffin24

Ha ha, cheers for the useful responses so far. I mean a matt paint, and not because Im planning to do it. Im not that weird. I just want to know if there is a possiblity of having a very very black room with no reflective surfaces and then what it would look like with light in it.

Ruu_Old

Black or is it very, very, very, very, very, VERY dark blue?

Aoifey!

Ruu wrote: »

Black or is it very, very, very, very, very, VERY dark blue?

Well now, this changes everything.

Saila

no, it will be like seeing a black cat in the dark. You will see the shape the cat makes but you wont be able to see anydetail of it you will just see a shadow, now if you take it that a black cat absorbs the light of what you are looking at it with and apply the same to a room full of black [like the black cats] then no light is getting reflected so nothing can be seen in the room if the light is on and there is no natural light coming in there and the walls are painted black.

BASHIR

ha ha classic

puffin24

Saila wrote: »

no, it will be like seeing a black cat in the dark. You will see the shape the cat makes but you wont be able to see anydetail of it you will just see a shadow, now if you take it that a black cat absorbs the light of what you are looking at it with and apply the same to a room full of black [like the black cats] then no light is getting reflected so nothing can be seen in the room if the light is on and there is no natural light coming in there and the walls are painted black.

See THIS is what I thought. Though I aint no physicist....or whatever things would know stuffs re this.

JerryHandbag

Get on the blower to Mythbusters

oppenheimer1

carchaeologist wrote: »

You would see the black walls very well with the light on....

it depends on how black the black paint is. In theory if they were a black body (perfect blackness) the walls would not be visible.

JazzyJ

What if it's in a black hole?

woodoo

Puffin pay more attention in science class

JustAddWater

The room is black

TPD

If the walls were so black they reflected no light, you'd just see the bulb and yourself. Would be a bit weird really. But there isn't any paint quite black enough.

puffin24

woodoo wrote: »

Puffin pay more attention in science class

Science is for nerds. And to answer vague questions like mine.

Voodu Child

If the walls were perfectly black (ie absorbs 100% of EM radiation) then you would not be able to see them. It would appear to you that you were floating in space.

However a perfectly black material doesnt exist.

Thrill

The paint would have to be light absorbing. Don't know if there is such a thing though.