6.2 — Mirror Images
Mirrors don’t “flip” the world — they redirect rays, and your brain interprets where they seem to come from.
🖼️ One-Page Visual Summary (Infographic)
🧭 Plot Summary
A mirror image is a virtual image: it appears to be located behind the mirror even though light never actually travels there. Your eyes trace reflected rays backward in straight lines, and your brain decides the image location based on where those rays seem to originate.
In this lesson, you’ll build mirror-image rules using ray diagrams: where the image appears, why it’s the same distance behind the mirror as the object is in front, and why mirrors feel like they swap left/right even though that’s not exactly what’s happening.
Why it matters:
Understanding mirror images is the first step toward understanding all image formation: mirrors, lenses, cameras, the human eye, and optical instruments. If you can track rays, you can predict what will be seen.
Inside: detailed explanations, graphical relationships, mathematical reasoning, and guided practice.
✅ Self-Check
- ◻ I can explain what a virtual image is.
- ◻ I can describe why a mirror image appears behind the mirror.
- ◻ I can use rays to predict image location for a plane mirror.
- ◻ I can explain the “left-right flip” misconception accurately.
🧪 Graded Assessments
- ✍️ It’s Your Turn
- 🔬 Lab
🎓 Instructor Inside
- ▶️ YouTube Video
- 🧩 Blooket Review
- 📘 Lesson Overview