Mirrors

Mirrors bounce light in a neat, predictable way.

A still lake reflects the trees like a mirror.

Clear reflections

A mirror is very smooth and shiny. It reflects light so neatly that we see a clear image. Still water and polished metal can work like mirrors too.

A mirror image is the same size as you and appears to be as far behind the mirror as you are in front of it.

Back to front

Raise your right hand in front of a mirror. Your image raises its left hand! Writing looks back to front in a mirror. That is why “AMBULANCE” is written backwards on the front of ambulances – drivers ahead read it the right way in their mirrors.

Hold a written word up to a mirror and look at its reflection in a second mirror – it reads the right way round again!

The bouncing rule

Light bounces off a mirror like a ball bouncing off a wall. The angle the light comes in at equals the angle it bounces off at. This rule lets us predict where the light will go.

This rule – the angle in equals the angle out – is called the law of reflection.

Mirrors in daily life

We use mirrors for getting ready, in cars and buses, and in telescopes. Dentists use small mirrors to see the backs of teeth.

Telescopes in big observatories use huge curved mirrors to collect faint light from distant stars.

What I learnt

I know that mirrors reflect light to make a clear image.
I know that mirror images are reversed left to right.