When I focus my eyes on a reflection in a mirror, I seem to focus differently than on the glass itself, for example on a smudge on the glass. This seems weird since the reflection is actually on the glass, not farther away as it appears to be.
When I look at a photograph, however, my eyes only focus on the paper itself, no matter what range of distance the photo appears to represent.
Why do my eyes act like the reflection in a mirror is farther away than the glass?
2007-02-17 06:35:06 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
In order for you to see an image in a mirror, light has to travel from the object to the mirror, and then from the mirror to your eyes.So you have to focus at the distance the light has traveled. The image does not appear on the surface of the mirror.
2007-02-17 06:54:34 · answer #1 · answered by injanier 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I was thinking about this for a while, and the reason your eyes act like the objects being reflected in the mirror are farther away is because of the simple fact that you have two eyes. You have depth perception.
The mirror is reflecting an exact replica of what is in the room or what is in the mirror's sight. So when you look at a mirror, you are basically just looking back at the room, or whatever the mirror is reflecting. If you had no depth perception you wouldn't be able to tell how far away anything is, but since you do, your eyes will allow you to believe that (for example) the bed is beyond the tv which is beyond the chair; rather than making you think they are all flat 2d images on the mirrors surface.
2007-02-17 06:56:27 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The photo is a flat object, and the camera did all the focusing for the objects in the photo. That is why photos can be out of focus, and no matter how well you focus your eyes, you can't bring the image back.
A mirror, on the other hand, reflects what you're looking at, instead of just representing it, so you aren't looking _at_ the mirror, you're looking _at_ the object, which is further away from your eyes than the mirror. The light has to travel from the object, to the mirror, and finally into your eyes.
2007-02-17 07:03:49 · answer #3 · answered by Nate R 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When you are looking into a mirror, you are creating a mirror world around yourself. The farther you are from the mirror, the bigger that world is. Since you cannot be directly on the mirror, you will always feel like you're back farther. You also feel pushed back in the mirror's image because of all the things that are also reflected in the mirror, like walls, floors, ceilings, and objects. A camera creates an image in which you were looking at the lens as the picture was taken. It also doesn't create mirror worlds.
2007-02-17 06:46:36 · answer #4 · answered by milkman16317 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
its simple, the reflection is further away from the glass. if u are standing 2 meters from the mirror than your reflection in the mirror is "standing" 2 meters away from the glass (on the other side of the mirror).
actually your image on the mirror is located on the mirror but it appears to be far, this is called an optical illusion.
2007-02-17 06:59:40 · answer #5 · answered by Librarian 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your eyes see the reflection as being as far behind the mirror as the subject is in front. You see the depth in the mirror.
2007-02-17 06:41:01 · answer #6 · answered by Norrie 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋