Why Do Mirrors Make You Look Backward?

Mirrors look like they flip your image, but actually, it's just light bouncing back at you. Imagine standing in front of a mirror, the light from your right eye goes to the mirror and comes back to your left eye, making it feel flipped. But if you draw on a piece of glass, it doesn’t seem flipped because both sides are mirrored! Mirrors can make things look backward depending on what you’re looking at.

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Examples

  1. If you raise your right hand in front of a mirror, it looks like you're raising your left hand.
  2. Writing on the inside of a window can look normal from the outside, no backward letters!
  3. Two mirrors placed at an angle make your face appear flipped both horizontally and vertically.

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