Why does a plane mirror reverse left to right, but not top to bottom?

Question

... and have you ever seen a "double mirror?"

Answer 1

lol, great question. I always wondered that myself.

Well lets think about it for a second...

If you were laying on the ground sideways, on your left side, then the ground would be left and the sky would be right. In the miror, the sky would be on your LEFT, and you would appear to be laying on your RIGHT side....

HOWEVER....

up is still up and down is still down, and in both views the sky would still be UP and the ground would still be DOWN, just different directions.

Answer 2

Because left and right are relative directions, based on which way you're facing, while top and bottom aren't. Suppose you have two people facing each other, and ask which way is "right" or "left." It's opposite for the two people. But they'll both agree on up and down.

The mirror shows you facing yourself, so left and right are reversed just like they are for any two people facing each other. If you use a non-relative measure of direction, like north, north is the same way whether you're a reflection or the original.

You could also measure up and down in relative ways. For example, define "my-up" to be the direction of a line drawn 90 degrees clockwise (in the vertical plane) from a line drawn from right to left. "my-up" would be the same as regular old "up" for you, but "my-up" would be the same as "down" for your mirror image.

Answer 3

it doesn't reverse anything it just reflects everything so what is left for you is right in the immage. its just direct reflection so it won't reverse top and bottom and there is no such thing as a double mirror. if you angle mirrors you can get a 360 view of yourself though

Answer 4

IT DOESN'T REVERSE ANYTHING, IT'S A MIRROR IMAGE...