I was recently faced by this confusing question, why do mirrors reverse left and right but not up and down? Interesting isn't it? but actually it is framed wrong because the mirrors do not
reverse anything they just
reflect back whatever is pointed to them.
Let's take the example of the image in this post. The baby has raised its one arm. If the mirror would have
reversed left and right side then the arm other than this would have been seen as raised. But it doesn't happen that way because the function of the mirror is to
reflect not to
reverse. Now let's make it a bit simpler. Suppose you and your friend are holding a blue paper in your right hands. If your friend would be holding it in the right hand while standing in front of you then it is said that your friend has
reversed the direction in which you are holding the paper. But instead of your friend, a mirror is kept in front of you then you would be seen to be holding the paper in the same direction because the mirror is actually
reflecting and not
reversing and reflection happens in the
same direction in the
same way[unless you do some trick and keep something more between you and the plane mirror(also when the mirror is not a plane one)].
Then why does it seem like the mirror is reversing? That's because our body is symmetrical. This symmetry creates a kind of illusion in front of our eyes and we perceive that the mirror is
reversing instead of
reflecting our image. If you write the word 'ASTRONOMY' on a big paper and place it in front of a plane mirror, you would feel as if it is reversed but try reading it from right-hand side. See? You no more feel that it is reversed. The reason for this case is that we mostly read from left-side instead of right-side.
[If this explanation is difficult to comprehend without visual aid then watch the video of the PhysicsGirl on YouTube regarding this topic.]
So the answer to the question 'why do mirrors reverse left and right but not up and down?' is just so simple. Sometimes the illusions are hovering in front of us but we don't realize them maybe because we are too used to believing in things as they are. But remember what one of the greatest minds Albert Einstein said:
"The important thing is to not stop questioning".
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