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MirrorsBecause if they didn't, they wouldn't be mirrors; they'd be windows -- or walls!

Perhaps you wish to know how they reflect or why some surfaces reflect whereas others don't.

There are basically three types of surfaces: those that absorb light, those that reflect it, and those that neither reflect it nor absorb it. Not counting "black holes," there are no objects that absorb all light perfectly or reflect all light perfectly or pass light perfectly. All objects reflect and absorb light to some degree. Some reflect more than absorb, some absorb more than reflect, and some -- like windows -- let light pass right through them. Mirrors are highly reflective, whereas black cotton or wool fabric doesn't reflect much at all.

So, let's take a look at stuff that reflects. A mirror reflects, but so does a piece of loose-leaf paper. If the paper did not reflect some light, it would be invisible to the human eye. If it absorbed all the light that struck it, there would be nothing for your eye to see, because when you "see" the paper, you are actually detecting the light reflected from it. But a piece of paper is not a mirror, is it? So, what's the difference?

The difference is the amount of "scatter" or diffusion caused by the surface of the paper. When the light rays hit the surface of the paper, they don't bounce off in the same direction; they scatter in many directions. We characterize that phenomenon as diffuse reflection. This occurs because the surface of the paper, when viewed under a microscope, is uneven, granular, and bumpy. See the nearby link for a diagram of light rays hitting a surface and scattering. The rays are bouncing off in all different directions. Objects that produce diffuse reflections don't make very good mirrors.

But when light rays hit a very flat, smooth, polished surface, they bounce off at very predictable and consistent angles. They don't bounce off in all directions. In fact, the measure of the angle at which the light hits the surface (the angle of incidence) is the measure of the angle at which the light bounces off the surface (the angle of reflection). When this happens, you have a mirror. See the nearby link for a diagram depicting reflection.
the back of a mirror is a thin layer of metal. well polished metal reflects images.


Mirrors show reflection by light will reflect at a mirror surface so that the angles of incidence and reflection are equal.

Mirror has at least one reflective object so that shows the image, that you put in front of that mirror. And how they work is that light helps you see your reflection in a mirror ; Light is energy traveling at high speed.

And when it hits ah object all the energy has to go somewhere.

- Melissa Lindsay (:
The back part of the mirror is made of of metal. They polish the metal. Because metal reflects light if shows your reflection.

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βˆ™ 9y ago
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βˆ™ 5mo ago

A mirror reflects heat by reflecting infrared radiation, which is a form of heat. The mirror's surface is smooth and shiny, allowing it to bounce the heat energy back towards its source. This reflection helps to keep an object or space cooler by reducing the amount of heat absorbed.

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βˆ™ 10y ago

Light (which is an electromagnetic wave) either bounced off or goes through surfaces. The density of metal does not allow light to go through so it bounces off - and mirrors were originally made of metal - and this is called reflection. Mirrors today are made of glass with a metallic coating on the back to deflect the light rather than let it pass through.

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βˆ™ 14y ago

A leaf is green because it absorbs all the colors of light except for green. A mirror barely absorbs any of the light because the polished metal of the mirror reflects the light exactly as it was when it hit the mirror.

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βˆ™ 15y ago

mirror is made up by a piece of glass and below it, it is coated by Mercury. and as we know, almost all metal has shiny surface, glass has smooth surface which helps the mercury to have total reflection effect. when light is shown, the light is reflected to our eyes, and our eyes detected high intensity of light, we will find it very shiny.

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βˆ™ 13y ago

The glass has a layer of silver on the back that reflects your image through the glass.

Mirrors that we see every day in bathrooms are very flat surfaces that reflect almost all the light.

The virtual image that seems to be behind the mirror is of the same size of the object from where the rays come from. The distance between the object and the mirror is the same distance between the mirror and the virtual image. The most notable difference is that the virtual image is reversed.

However, not every mirror is flat. There are also curved mirrors. These mirrors reflect light in special ways.

Let's imagine a soccer ball. Concave mirrors are the ones whose reflecting surface is the inside part of the ball. Convex mirrors are the ones whose reflecting surface is the outside part of the ball.

Now, let's imagine the center of the ball. This is called the center of curvature (C). The line that passes through the center of curvature and the mirror is the principal axis and the midpoint between the center of curvature and the mirror on the principal axis is called the principal focus (F).

In a concave mirror, the reflected ray will pass through the principal focus if the incident ray is parallel to the principal axis. In a convex mirror, the reflected ray will seem to come from the principal focus if the incident ray is parallel to the principal axis.

These curved mirrors produce an effect enlargement and reduction.

If a box is placed in front of a concave mirror, the virtual image of that box produced by the mirror is larger than the real box. On the other hand, if a box is placed in front of a convex mirror, the virtual image of that box produced by the mirror is smaller than the real box.

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βˆ™ 13y ago

Mirrors help dentists look @ their patients teeth. they help us back up our vehicles and c around corners but the most useful one is to look in the mirror and c your beautiful self staring back @ u.

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βˆ™ 12y ago

The mirror reflects light, which has heat. However, not all types of light produces heat. Also, Mirrors can't exactly reflect heat. It all depends on what definition of heat you're talking about. I think the "scientific" thing is that heat comes in waves, or something like that.

Radiant heat is a form of energy otherwise known as infrared radiation, a form of electromagnetic radiation of longer wavelength and less energy than visible light. Radiant heat can therefore be reflected just as light can. However, convected heat is created by excitation of air molecules, and conducted heat is created by excitation of the conductor molecules, so neither of these forms of heat can be reflected by a mirror.

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βˆ™ 15y ago

To collect data without having to go into space

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βˆ™ 14y ago

light is reflected

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Q: How does a mirror reflect heat?
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Related questions

Can a mirror reflect fire?

No, a mirror cannot reflect fire. Mirrors reflect light, but not heat or flames.


What is a sentence for reflect?

I need time to reflect. The stones around the campfire will reflect the heat. A mirror will reflect your image.


Can a mirror in water reflects heat?

No, but it can reflect light which can easily turn into heat when it hits something.


Why electric heaters have mirror behind the heating coil?

To reflect the heat into the room.


WHY ELECTRIC ROOM HEATER HAVE MIRROR BEHIND THE HEATING COIL?

To reflect the heat into the room.


Is mirror reflected heat with light?

Not sure exactly what you mean? Mirrors can reflect heat. Heat is simply electromagnetic waves in the infrared part of the spectrum, mirrors can reflect them (some types better than others).


What will happen when a light is shone at a mirror?

it will reflect off it


What do you call the ray that leaves the mirror?

A mirror and most surfaces reflect lots of things like light and heat. If you shine sunlight on a mirror it will reflect sunlight. Sunlight is the radiation which the sun gives off, within sunlight there are many different wave lengths with include infa-red and ultra-violet. In short a mirror with reflect certain wave-lengths, to understand better it is best you research on waves.


Does a mirror reflect without light?

light is needed to reflect an image off a mirror...no light no reflection


How can you reflect?

you can reflect in thought, or reflect some thing in a Mirror. There's other ways to reflect to.


reflect?

mirror or flip


Do light rays reflect or refract when they hit a convex mirror?

Light rays reflect when they hit a convex mirror. The rays bounce off the mirror and converge to form a virtual image behind the mirror.