Look into a mirror. Why is your reflection reversed horizontally but not vertically?

Question

Some folk are having difficulty interpreting the question.

Put an earring into your RIGHT ear. Now look in the mirror. Which ear does it appear to you now?

When you look into a mirror you do not see the IMAGE as your friends see you face to face.

Answer 1

Huh? I never understood the fascination people have with this one. When I raise my right hand in a mirror it is still on my right side in the mirror. Only written words appear reversed to me. Now if I am facing another person their left and right are opposite because they are facing a different direction. In the mirror this does not appear to be so to me, so...
Thanks for the 2 points!
After I submitted this I tried what agentdenim suggested. Wow! It worked! Great optical illusion. Still, my first answer remains true.

Answer 2

Your reflection isn't reversed... It's just a reflection. Light waves bounce into and directly back out of the mirror when you look at yourself.
If you want to see a reversed reflection, find a mirrored medicine chest with 2 doors that you can open each side to form a 90-degree angle between the two. Then you'll see a reversed reflection: if you close your left eye, the reflection's right eye will close.

Answer 3

How the heck does a mirror reverse anything?!?!?!? When I look into the mirror the arm on the right side of my body is the same arm on the right side of the image inside the mirror frame. When I move my right arm, as I look into the mirror the arm on the right side of the mirror moves, not the one on the left. It doesn't reverse anything.

The real, long in depth explanation is all about light rays and photons bouncing or being relfected and probably too in depth for someone who thinks mirrors reverse things.

Answer 4

Here's the answer i posted 2 weeks ago to the same question:

Because the light is not "reversed", it comes straight back from the mirror. So the light from the head come back towards the head, same for the feet. Same for the left hand and right hand. It just LOOKS reversed.
When you move your left hand, the "left" hand of the image also moves, but since the image is facing you, and you are used to thinking of that hand as the right hand, it looks reversed, but it's still on the left hand side.

If a person is facing you and moves their right hand, then turns around and moves their left hand, it is always on YOUR left side.

Answer 5

Your reflection isn't actually reversed, the image is showing what is directly in front of each "section" of the mirror. That is to say for instance, your left shoulder is reflected in front of your left shoulder, similarly with your right shoulder, thus your head will be reflected at head level and not "by your feet" so although the whole image appears reversed, it is an optical illusion.

Answer 6

its called lateral inversion
these are the mirror's properties,
1. it shows the image at the same distance as the object is.
2. it inverts the image laterally(left is rite ...and right is left.)
3. it does not diminish the image, it does not enlarge it..but shows the same size.
4.it shows a 2-D figure (two dimensional)
.........& i think i forgot the rest....i'll ask my professor !!

Answer 7

That is the stupidest question I have ever read on here.
Well done!
It's a REFLECTION. Look it up.

Answer 8

Maybe I need to stand on my head first.

Answer 9

because our eyes are next to each other horizontally

Answer 10

I would love to explain..however..my vocabulary isn´ t big enough yet..:-((
(I´m slovak)