Expert: Amy - 3/11/2005

Question
Hi, my name is Brennan and I attend Sacred Heart School. For our computer class, we are submitting questions via the internet. My question is, "How do mirrors work?"

Answer
Hi Brennan.

To understand mirrors, we must first look a little bit at light light. Light rays really are made up of little energy packages or particles known as photons, which react in different ways when they encounter certain objects.

Photons might pass through an object such as water, become absorbed or partially absorbed by objects such as leaves on trees, or be reflected off non-transparent surfaces.



When light is reflected off most rough surfaces, it becomes scattered. Because of this scattered reflection of light, the object can be seen. Objects are seen either because they reflect light or because they themselves emit light. As an example, we see the stars and the sun because they emit light and the moon because it reflects light.



Light rays that have encountered an object (your face, as an example) travel to and are reflected uniformly off the ultra smooth plane of a mirror in predictable, not irregular angles.


Because the mirror's surface is smooth and not irregular, a different type of reflection is created. You then see a “virtual” image of your face that appears to be somewhere within the mirror where it really isn't.

Thanks,
Amy