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Most materials can give some specular reflection, provided that their surface can be polished to eliminate irregularities comparable with the light wavelength (a fraction of a micrometer). Depending on the material and surface roughness, reflection may be mostly specular, mostly diffuse, or anywhere in between. A few materials, like liquids and glasses, lack the internal subdivisions which produce the subsurface scattering mechanism described above, and so give ''only'' specular reflection. Among common materials, only polished metals can reflect light specularly with high efficiency, as in aluminum or silver usually used in mirrors. All other common materials, even when perfectly polished, usually give not more than a few percent specular reflection, except in particular cases, such as [[Angle of incidence (optics)#Grazing angle|grazing angle]] reflection by a lake, or the ''[[total reflection]]'' of a glass prism, or when structured in certain complex configurations such as the silvery skin of many fish species or the reflective surface of a [[dielectric mirror]]. Diffuse reflection can be highly efficient, as in white materials, due to the summing up of the many subsurface reflections.
[[File:Optical effect on a plastic sheet.jpg|thumb|Reflection on a plastic workpiece (made by [[injection moulding]])]]
==Colored objects==
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