How Do Mirrors Work?

In the New York Hall Of Science, we have many interactive and interesting exhibits such as The Hall Of Mirrors, where you can experience many different types of mirrors. We have regular mirrors and special effects mirrors such as the infinity mirror or the mirror that stretches your body.

The first type of mirror that we have is the infinity mirror, the mirror that seems to go on forever. When two mirrors have different reflections and radiation waves, and are surrounded by an LED light, the light then bounces between the two mirrors and the process continues to infinity.

In your favorite detective shows, you’ve probably seen someone looking into a mirror, observing their reflection, and on the other side, someone is looking at them through the same mirror? These types of mirrors are known as half silvered mirrors.

The effect you see comes from the element chromium, which is what’s placed on the glass in order to reflect light. In the room with the reflection mirrors, there is a large amount of light and the other side is kept with little to no light in order to not carry light into the other side.

Other mirrors we have are mirrors with weird effects that can change the proportion of your legs or curves to the rest of your body. The weird effects are caused by the lighting and shapes of the mirrors.

The standard mirror functions because of the law of reflection. The law of reflection states that the angle of incidence, the angle at which light comes into the mirror must be equal to the angle of reflection, the angle at which light is reflected from the mirror, meaning that whatever is in front of the mirror is what is exactly the same as what you see in it.

If you’re fascinated by all or any of these mirrors, come check them out at The Hall Of Science. We’ve got all different colors, sizes, and shapes of mirrors for you to have fun with. And, as always, if you have any science topics or questions that you’d like to see in one of our upcoming NYSCI videos, let us know in the comments below!

Producer: Dante
Script: Choeyang
Director: Genesi
Cam A: Ishtiaque
Cam B: San San
Audio: Maanal
Talent: Katherine
Editor: Dante
Lighting: Brandon


Resources:
science.howstuffworks.com/question421.htm.
science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/everyday-innovations/mirror2.htm.
http://notsoshabby-shabbychic.blogspot.com/2013/09/my-most-popular-pictures-from-pinterest.html
https://youtu.be/7FsKlW3xYN8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkHlhiG0h70
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mirror-Control-winter-Reflective-Privacy/dp/B002CM3NLM
https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-laws-of-reflection
http://www.instructables.com/id/Modern-Led-Infinity-Mirror-Table-Lamp/
https://www.redbubble.com/people/sciencenotes/works/22393476-chromium-element-symbol-periodic-table?p=sticker

Do you know of any other types of mirrors?