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Q:
My physics teacher has challenged us to find a picture that was in one of his old physics books and I don’t know where to look. It is a picture, possibly called "The Impossible Mirror", and is a picture of a man looking into a mirror and seeing the back of his head. Do you know where I could find this picture?
- J.T. (age 16)
Hazelwood, Mo
A:
Nope, but that reminds me of a nice question. A mirror is just a flat
reflecting sheet. If it happens to be square or round, there's nothing
different about it side-to-side than there is up-to-down. Yet when you
look in a mirror, you think that it has somehow switched your left and
right. You don't think it has switched your top and bottom.
Why?
Mike W.
I found some picture of people's backs of heads in mirrors but they are facing away from the mirror.
It is often useful to see the back of your own head in a mirror,
however. This can be done easily with two mirrors. They will usually
set this up at a barbershop (one large mirror in front of you and a
small mirror held in back of yuor head) so you can see the finished
product.
Tom
(published on 10/22/2007)
Follow-up on this answer.
