glossy

Gloss is an optical property, which is based on the interaction of light with physical characteristics of a surface. It is actually the ability of a surface to reflect light into the specular direction. The factors that affects gloss are the refractive index of the material, the angle of incident light and the surface topography.

Gloss can be said as a view of material appearance. Materials with smooth surfaces appear glossy, while very rough surfaces reflect no specular light and therefore appear matt (British English) or matte (American English). Gloss is also expressed as lustre in mineralogy, or sheen in certain fields of application.

See also

• List of optical topics
• Glossmeter

References

• Meeten, G.H. (1986). Optical Properties of Polymers. London: Elsevier Applied Science. pp. 326–329. ISBN 0-85334-434-5.