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Have you ever wondered how a mirror shows your reflection? Or how when you look at an angle, you can see objects that aren’t directly in front of the mirror? This activity will help you understand both.
Light does one of three things; it reflects, gets absorbed, or transmits (goes through objects). Since a mirror is very smooth, light reflects off of it very easily. In fact, the reason why you can see trees, your hands, or even this computer screen is because light is reflecting off of it.
The way light bounces off mirrors is very much like the way a ball bounces against a hard surface. You can throw a ball straight down, and it will bounce straight back at you. Or, you can bounce a ball at an angle and it will bounce off the floor at the same angle away from you. Light reflects the same way off of a mirror. In other words, light reflects from a mirror at the same angle as it arrives.