How Does a Mirror Work Exactly?

Mirrors work by making light bounce back at you. When you stand in front of a mirror, the light from your face hits the shiny surface and bounces right back, just like when a ball hits a wall and comes back to you. That’s why you see yourself looking back!

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Examples

  1. You see your face in the mirror when you look at it.
  2. When you wave goodbye with your right hand, your reflection waves goodbye with its left hand.
  3. A cat looking into a mirror sees itself as another cat.

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Categories: Physics · Reflection· Light· Optics · Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.