Imagine you're facing a mirror, and it shows your face. You might think the mirror flipped your left side to the right, but really, it's just showing you exactly as you are, head-on. If you raise your right hand, the mirror shows your right hand, not your left. The trick is that mirrors flip things front to back, not left to right. It’s like looking at a picture from the front instead of the back, the side that faces you stays the same, but what was behind flips over.
Examples
- If you stand in front of a mirror and raise your right hand, the reflection shows your right hand.
- A cat walking toward a mirror appears to walk forward, not backward, even though it's reflected.
- When you wave goodbye to someone in the mirror, it looks like you're waving hello to yourself.
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See also
- Why Do Mirrors Flip Left and Right, But Not Top and Bottom?
- How Mirrors Reflect Objects Even When There's Space Between Them
- Why Do Mirrors Reflect But Not Absorb?
- Why do mirrors flip images horizontally but not vertically?
- Why Do We See Mirrors as Ourselves?