why do only the left-right directions get exchanged and not the top-bottom.
2006-07-08 05:26:43 · 4 answers · asked by smarts 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
There is no inversion only the perception of inversion in much the same way as the perception of left and right changes according to the perspective of the viewer. If I am looking at you from the front your left hand would be on my right side. If I am viewing you from the rear (standing behind you) then your left hand would be on my left side and our perspectives would thus agree. If I were standing on my head then your bottom would indeed be "up". When looking at a mirror you are viewing the mirror's view of you. The mirror sees your left hand on its right side and thus you also see your left hand on its right side which from your perspective is your left side.
2006-07-08 05:42:42 · answer #1 · answered by pivot_enabled 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Here is another way to look at it
It's not the image that's reversed. it is our perception of it. We see a person in the mirror facing us, Imagine your identical twin is standing in front of you facing a mirror. You see the image in the mirror; now take the mirror away and ask your twin to "be" the reflection. In order to do this, he will have to turn around, which he will do about his vertical axis, exchanging the positions of his right and left. He does not flip himself; that will not match the mirror image. We imagine that the reflection is a "turned around" person because that is what we would have to do to look like it.
2006-07-08 13:37:37 · answer #2 · answered by gp4rts 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A good explanation is because of the bilateral symmetry of the human body. Our eyes view the mirror image across an imaginary vertical plane of symmetry -- left becomes right and right becomes left.
2006-07-08 05:34:03 · answer #3 · answered by ... 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
actually, your left harm in the mirror is to the left, and your head is on top, nothing gets inverted!
2006-07-08 05:40:29 · answer #4 · answered by Arnaud Amiel 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋