Losses involved in reflection and refraction

[benmww]

when light is reflected on a surface, there is always going to be some absorbsion by the reflective material. what I'm curious to find out is whether the losses in refraction are compareable? is it just dependent on the transparency of the material?

 

[Drakkith]

Yes, the transparency of the material will determine how much of the light is lost.Things such as purity of the material can affect how transparent it is, so while something might be 100% transparent to a certain wavelength, if there are impurities some of it will still be absorbed.