*related=http://videosift.com/video/How-does-a-mirror-work

How does a mirror work? has been added as a related post - related requested by messenger.

I'm not really sure why this needs explaining.
There isn't anything here that isn't completely obvious.

What is great about this video is that she must have been confused herself, and had this big realization, prompting her to make this instructional video on mirrors.

I'm generally surprised when people make instructional videos on mundane, every day stuff that we all already know, and have known most of our lives.

Maybe not so obvious to most, as Feynmen thought it worthy of discussing and it seems pretty apparent he doesn't share your feelings.
http://videosift.com/video/How-does-a-mirror-work

My first reaction is similar to those ^above, but my second reaction is: Oh, right, she's a young girl explaining things to young people.

I can totally see tons of kids watching this and learning something new.

And I'm sure there are even some older folks who never really thought about it before and might find it interesting to consider.

---and then you will have people like me flippin' out! whoooaaa, not so fast! head spinning

Seems as though she's paraphrased Feynman's video.

Instinctively, I know it's a reflection. What is closest to the plane of the mirror on one side will appear closest to the plane on the refection. We don't flip horizontal or vertically, we reflect. What is on our right stays to the right, and what is left, stays to to the left.
I love Feynman, and I can listen to him for hours. but I didn't need his discussion to understand it either.

From a scientific point of view, I suppose it's good to lay it out. A solid foundation is the best thing to build off of, and finding the words to describe seemingly abstract ideas is always a challenge. This one was easy, but I know they get harder.

When you think about it hard enough you come in to conclusion that since the only external self-image we have are from looking at mirrors and that the mirror actually shows you back-to-front.. (shudder...)

You know when you look at a photo of yourself and it looks really really odd? That is because pictures are in normal order along depth axis, which means they are not reflections, you are not used to seeing yourself that way. The tiny tiny little details only you know so well are all reversed in your head and thus the creature from blue lagoon is what your brains see in that photo. Only others see you as you really look... And only you know how it looks from inside out, ie, depth axis reversed.

So in a sense, every time you look at yourself in the mirror, you are inside out.

I didn't wonder either, but I enjoyed the explanation nonetheless!

I still didn't understand it.

Sometimes I have a hard time understanding even how she wishes to explain it (yeah, I get it--relative alignment and whatnot).

I however don't view "whatever is in the mirror" as some kind of alternate universe or merely a switch of directions in my head (as she states, that most of us have a psychological impression to do so): I definitely see me, and not a "reverse".

I know, as others mentioned she is explaining it more than likely for younger audiences, but I wonder if there are better ways to do it. I find it far easier to understand it through the traditional physics explanation of photons bouncing off of objects, hitting the mirror and coming to my eyes (but, that isn't what she wants here; that is why I boiled it down into two words: relative alignment). It just makes sense, what could then end up happening--at least to me.