> Is the fact that photons are (in a sense) "bigger" than atoms responsible for the fact that we can have shiny surfaces? Yes, if you simplify things a bit, th

> Is the fact that photons are (in a sense) "bigger" than atoms responsible for the fact that we can have shiny surfaces? Yes, if you simplify things a bit, this is true. "size of the photons" is in this case their wavelength. Wavelength of visible light (~500 nm) is very much larger than the size of silver atoms in a mirror (~100 pm). This is why you can have a mirror even with surfaces that are not atomically flat.