From aat22@airmail.net Sat Apr 14 08:24:05 2001
	From: lori tucker (aat22@airmail.net)
	To: staff@attrition.org
	Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2001 16:14:04 -0600


	I want to know exactly what mirrors do and how they work





	We see objects in a mirror, because a mirror, when hit by 
	particles of light called photons, reflects the photons back 
	to us and some reach, and enter, our eyes. Photons that hit a 
	rough surface will bounce off of the surface in a haphazard 
	manner, while those that hit a smooth surface, such as a mirror, 
	only bounce off of the surface at the same angle at which they 
	hit the object. The scientific term for this phenomenon is 
	reflection.

        Not all smooth surfaces reflect photons back to us, even though, 
	technically, they should bounce back at the same angle at which 
	they hit the surface. This exception to the rule results, because
        some smooth surfaces absorb the light particles hitting them, 
	making it impossible for them to bounce back.

        Another apparent exception to this rule is that, although our 
	bodies are rough, uneven surfaces, off of which light bounces at 
	random angles, our images reflect off of a mirror. The reason for 
	this apparent contradiction is simply that when we stand in front 
	of a mirror, some, but not all, of the light particles bouncing off 
	of us will hit the smooth surface of the mirror. The ones that do 
	reflect our images back to our eyes at exactly the same angle at 
	which they hit the mirror.

        In other words, photons that bounce off of any part of our bodies 
	and hit the mirror reflect back to our eyes from only one place on 
	the mirror, and at only one angle. It follows that each point on our
        bodies that reflects back to our eyes from one point on the mirror 
	produces an image in the mirror. All of the images together make up 
	our reflections, like it or not. And remember that mirrors don't
        lie!