• Question: Why is your reflection the wrong way around in a spoon?

    Asked by louisehtdd to Amy, Grant, Martin, Shawn, Usman on 13 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: Martin Archer

      Martin Archer answered on 13 Mar 2013:

      All reflections are sort of the “wrong way round” in some way. You need to think about what the light is doing. For example, light from your left will hit a mirror and come right back at you still on your left. But people who are looking at you see light coming from your left and it goes into their right eye. That’s why text looks backwards in a mirror.

      In a spoon it’s the curvature which comes into play, it can reflect the light coming in to a different direction which might make you look upside down. That’s also why fun house mirrors are “fun”, it’s the mirror’s curvature that can make you look fat or thin.

    • Photo: Grant Kennedy

      Grant Kennedy answered on 15 Mar 2013:

      Yup, all about the curvature. Take a look at this, it might help you picture where the light rays are going.
      http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=7777.0
      g

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