How do mirrors work?
Basically, anything with a smooth surface that reflects almost all of the light that hits it with only very little light absorbed or scattered can be a mirror. The key factor is a smooth surface, because rough surfaces scatter light instead of reflecting it.
When photons, rays of light coming from an object (your smiling face, for example) strike the smooth surface of a mirror, they bounce back at the same angle. Your eyes see these reflected photons as a mirror image. The mirror image is reversed, which you can easily see if you stand in front of a mirror with a shirt with words on it. The words on the shirt appear backward in the mirror.
Of course, not all smooth surfaces act as mirrors. If a smooth surface absorbs the photons, they can't bounce back and there will be no reflection.
Although calm, dark water has been used as a mirror since the beginning of time, people started making mirrors thousands of years ago. The first mirrors were likely polished stones, such as obsidian (a type of volcanic glass). Large pieces of polished metal, such as brass, were also used as mirrors, although these were very expensive.
Basically, anything with a smooth surface that reflects almost all of the light that hits it with only very little light absorbed or scattered can be a mirror. The key factor is a smooth surface, because rough surfaces scatter light instead of reflecting it.
When photons, rays of light coming from an object (your smiling face, for example) strike the smooth surface of a mirror, they bounce back at the same angle. Your eyes see these reflected photons as a mirror image. The mirror image is reversed, which you can easily see if you stand in front of a mirror with a shirt with words on it. The words on the shirt appear backward in the mirror.
Of course, not all smooth surfaces act as mirrors. If a smooth surface absorbs the photons, they can't bounce back and there will be no reflection.
Although calm, dark water has been used as a mirror since the beginning of time, people started making mirrors thousands of years ago. The first mirrors were likely polished stones, such as obsidian (a type of volcanic glass). Large pieces of polished metal, such as brass, were also used as mirrors, although these were very expensive.
