Final answer:
A one-way mirror transmits less light and reflects more due to its thin reflective coating, which is different from a standard window. This makes it so that most light is reflected rather than passed through. In contrast, standard glass allows most light to transmit, with rough surfaces diffusing light to be visible from multiple angles.
Step-by-step explanation:
A one-way mirror, which is also referred to as a two-way mirror, allows light to be transmitted through one side while reflecting light on the other side, this significantly differs from a standard glass window. The reason a one-way mirror transmits less and reflects more light than a standard window can be attributed to the way it is constructed. A one-way mirror has a reflective coating that is much thinner than the coating on a traditional mirror. This semi-transparent layer allows some light to pass through while reflecting the majority of it. This results in more light being reflected than transmitted, giving the one-way mirror its unique properties.
In contrast, a regular window, which is typically made of transparent glass or plastic like plexiglass, does not have such a coating, allowing most of the light to pass through with minimal reflections. When light encounters rough surfaces, such as paper or clothing, it gets diffused and scattered in many directions, which makes these objects visible from various angles. A mirror, with its smooth surface relative to the wavelength of light, will not diffuse the light but will reflect it at specific angles.
Additionally, when we observe reflections from a transparent medium like glass, we can sometimes see a double image because some light is reflected off the surface of the glass, while another part of the light passes through and is reflected from other layers or surfaces within the glass itself, or from the darker side, leading to multiple images being perceived.