On Mon, 21 May 2001, Jinx wrote:

> More ramblings from the South Pacific
>
> I was blowing myself kisses in the mirror today, as is my wont,
> when I got to wondering why mirrors reflect left to right but not
> up to down. I mean, I'm OK with them the way they are, I couldn't
> see myself in a house without mirrors (ha ha). I've looked for an
> answer but no luck. This "explanation" at How Stuff Works is a
> pretty sorry attempt. In fact it dodges the question altogether
>
> http://www.howstuffworks.com/question415.htm

The mirror doesn't reverse anything.  Your point of view is reversed
left-to-right when you look at something in a mirror as compared to
looking at it directly, but the reflection in the mirror isn't reversed.
If you're looking in the mirror, your left side is on your left side and
your right side is on your right side.

Think of this example.  If you're holding up a transparent sheet with
writing on it and looking at it so you can read it, you would have to turn
it around -- reversing it -- to show it to someone coming toward you.
You could still read it just fine in a mirror, though.

Of course this doesn't include concave mirrors.

Dale
--
A train stops at a train station.  A bus stops at a bus station.
On my desk I have a workstation...

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