Question:
Why doesn't a mirror turn the image upside down?
Andrew L
2009-05-06 13:02:39 UTC
... as well as reversing the image sideways?

It seems a bit random to do one and not the other.
Five answers:
robotelectro
2009-05-07 04:55:29 UTC
We see objects in a mirror, because a mirror, when hit by particles of light called photons, reflects the photons back to us and some reach, and enter, our eyes. Photons that hit a rough surface will bounce off of the surface in a haphazard manner, while those that hit a smooth surface, such as a mirror, only bounce off of the surface at the same angle at which they hit the object. The scientific term for this phenomenon is reflection.



Not all smooth surfaces reflect photons back to us, even though, technically, they should bounce back at the same angle at which they hit the surface. This exception to the rule results, because some smooth surfaces absorb the light particles hitting them, making it impossible for them to bounce back.



Another apparent exception to this rule is that, although our bodies are rough, uneven surfaces, off of which light bounces at random angles, our images reflect off of a mirror. The reason for this apparent contradiction is simply that when we stand in front of a mirror, some, but not all, of the light particles bouncing off of us will hit the smooth surface of the mirror. The ones that do reflect our images back to our eyes at exactly the same angle at which they hit the mirror.



In other words, photons that bounce off of any part of our bodies and hit the mirror reflect back to our eyes from only one place on the mirror, and at only one angle. It follows that each point on our bodies that reflects back to our eyes from one point on the mirror produces an image in the mirror. All of the images together make up our reflections, like it or not. And remember that mirrors don't lie!
RickB
2009-05-06 13:20:21 UTC
I've always said this: "Mirrors don't reverse right and left -- people do!"



Here's my proof:



1. Take a piece of blank paper, and write "Hello" on it, in big letters.

2. Now stand in front of a mirror. Hold the paper so the word "Hello" is facing YOU (not the mirror). You should of course be able to read "Hello" normally.

3. Now turn the paper around so that it is facing the mirror.



What to do you see now? Probably you see left & right reversed in the word "Hello"; but top and bottom are NOT reversed. The explanation for why that happened is in Step 3 above. When you flipped the paper around to face the mirror, you probably flipped it horizontally. That means YOU exchanged the left and right sides of the paper when you turned the paper around.



Now re-do Steps 2 and 3; but this time, flip the paper VERTICALLY to face the mirror. Sure enough, this time you'll see TOP and BOTTOM reversed in the mirror, but left and right are now in their normal positions.



The fact is, because of the influence of gravity, almost all of the rotating we do is around a vertical axis, so that we can keep our feet pointing down and our head pointing up. Because of that, when we rotate ourselves (or just about anything) to face a mirror, WE reverse left and right--and the mirror just shows the result.
Stephan L
2009-05-06 14:42:51 UTC
Lay the mirror on the ground, and you will see that it also turns the image upside down.
James P
2009-05-06 14:19:07 UTC
It is a misconception that mirrors reverse sideways: they actually reverse front-to-back (and only that).
andy muso
2009-05-07 04:31:32 UTC
Because my left is your right and vice-versa but my top is still your top and not your bottom.


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
Loading...