We all have Mirrors at home, in cars, and in several other places. Some are Plane, and some are curved. You may have reflected off sunlight from a plane mirror someday, wondering why this piece of glass reflects light?

Today I will tell you how Mirrors get that property of reflecting light.

Image Source: homesdirect365

How do Mirrors reflect most of the Light?

You may have observed, things like paper, and wood rocks don't reflect light, although we can see them. Since we can see them, they also reflect light, but not all of them, and not in a uniform way. It is because their surface is rough, and not smooth. Also, they are uneven, and not planar.

A Mirror removes these 2 problems. Mirrors are one of the most smooth surfaces that exist. If you zoom in on the micro level on a mirror's surface, you can see that it's almost free of unevenness. Also, Plane mirrors are in a plane, so they reflect most of the light in the same direction.

Image source: Mental Floss

Curved Mirrors, on the other hand, are smooth, but not planar. Thus they reflect the light in different directions in a controlled manner. Car Side view mirrors are a good example. You may have seen written on them 'Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear'. It's because the images they produce are diminished. That's how Mirrors reflect light.

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