Re:Why Do Mirrors Flip Things Horizontally but Not Verticall...
by noxer on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @02:48PM
(#24711326)
>A light source moving away from you to a mirror is getting dimmer, but it’s reflection is getting brighter.
The distance to the light source grows if you move it away toward the mirror it gets dimmer. The the distance of the light in the reflection however gets shorter so it get brighter.
If the light is right next to you the distance is zero. The reflected light however traveled 2 times the distance to the mirror (dimmer). If you move the light to the mirror both "lights" are one mirror distance away so they have the same brightness (assuming a perfect mirror). There is no "physical property reversed" at all. You could remove the mirror and measure the light intensity twice the distance away instead. Then move the light to the middle where the mirror was and obviously the sensor would measure and increase while you see a decrees in brightness.
Re:Why Do Mirrors Flip Things Horizontally but Not Verticall...
by Retric on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @03:19PM
(#24711646)
This is going to seem really pedantic, but many properties of the photons are consistent with a path that reflects off of a mirror. However, it’s unclear if it actually takes that path.
A light source moving away from you to a mirror is getting dimmer, but it’s reflection is getting brighter. That’s a measurable physical property that’s reversed. Similarly, a red or blue shifted object between the mirror has a reflection that’s revered in the other direction. However, when looking at an object behind you that doesn’t happen as the reflection shows the same side.