09 Mar How Do Mirrors Work?
If you are seeking a simple and effective way to boost your interior design, you may want to consider placing a mirror on your wall. Wall mirrors are great tools for adding light and space to any room, and a custom mirror can be framed with materials that match your home’s overall décor. For help choosing new wall mirrors, it is a great idea to work with a company that offers mirror construction in Boca Raton. A glass and mirror specialist will work closely with you to help you create the mirror of your dreams. If you are wondering how mirrors are able to create such a beautiful new dimension to your home, read on to learn more about how mirrors work.
Smooth Surface
The most important element of a mirror is its completely smooth surface. When light hits a completely smooth surface, it will be perfectly reflected. By contrast, rough or uneven surfaces are unable to reflect light. When you see an image that is being reflected in a mirror, you are actually looking at photons of light that are bouncing off of the mirror’s smooth surface.
Reflected Photons
A mirror’s reflective properties occur at the molecular level. All light is composed of photons, which are also referred to as rays of light. Photons come from many sources, such as sunlight, firelight and artificial lights such as lamps. As photons bounce off of objects, they change direction. Since a mirror’s surface is completely smooth, it is able to reflect the images that are transferred by the photons.
The First Mirrors
Mirrors can trace their history back to thousands of years ago, when early humans used shiny stones, such as polished obsidian, as basic types of mirror surfaces. By the 15th and 16th centuries, humans had discovered that coating clear glass with a reflective metal created a perfectly reflective surface. Today’s mirrors rely on the same simple concept that was used during the creation of the earliest mirrors.
