INSIDE a Spherical Mirror | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

Mirrors reflect light and create fascinating illusions, but they also show a reversed version of ourselves.

Key Insights

• ☄️ The word "mirror" comes from Latin "mirari," meaning "to wonder at, to admire."
• 🪩 Mirrors absorb a tiny amount of light with each reflection, resulting in eventual darkness in a spherical mirrored room.
• 🙃 Our reflections in a mirrored spherical room change as we move away from the center, becoming magnified and upside down.
• 🪩 Mirrors show a reversed version of ourselves, which we prefer due to the mere-exposure effect.
• 😒 Folding a flexible mirror into a cylindrical shape allows the image to separate and display an un-reversed version.
• 🪩 The size of our reflection on the surface of a mirror is always the same, regardless of distance.
• 🙂 Mirrors reflect light back at the same angle, causing the reflection to be half the size of our actual body.

Transcript

Hey, Vsauce. Michael here. But you are actually right there. Well, at least the camera is. Mirrors are amazing. In fact, the word "mirror" comes from Latin "mirari", meaning "to wonder at, to admire." It's also where we get the word miracle. Mirror- -acle. Like when mirrors face each other and transform a toilet room into infinity. I love this kind... Read More

Questions & Answers

Q: Why does a mirrored spherical room go dark quickly?

Even with highly reflective mirrors, the speed of light means that reflections occur rapidly, causing a loss of light with each reflection, resulting in the room going dark in an instant.

Q: How does our reflection change in a mirrored spherical room as we move away from the center?

Initially, your reflection would shrink away, but after a certain point, it would start growing larger and become magnified until you reach the center. As you move past the center, the reflection flips upside down and continues to recede.

Q: Why do we prefer our reflection in a mirror compared to how we look in photographs or videos?

Mirrors show a reversed version of ourselves, which we have become accustomed to. We prefer the reversed version because it is what we see every day, whereas cameras show the real, unreversed version.

Q: How can a flexible mirror be un-reversed?

By folding a flexible mirror into a cylindrical shape, the image separates and reveals an un-reversed version, effectively creating a true mirror.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Mirrors absorb a tiny amount of light each time it reflects, so a spherical room made entirely of mirrors would go dark quickly.

• In a mirrored spherical room, as you move away from the center, your reflection would first shrink and then grow larger and upside down.

• Mirrors show a reversed version of ourselves due to the way they reflect along perpendicular axes.