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A mirror is a piece of glass that reflects light. When focused through the lens of the eye or a camera, light that bounces off a mirror reflects an image of whatever is in front of it. Mirrors reflect light in an equal but opposite direction, reversing the direction of the image.
Overview
This allows the spectator to see themselves or items behind them, as well as objects that are in their field of view but are at an angle from them, such as behind a corner. Natural mirrors, such as the surface of water, have existed since prehistoric times, but people have been making mirrors out of a variety of materials for thousands of years, including stone, metals, and glass.
Metals such as silver or aluminum are frequently utilized in modern mirrors due to their high reflectivity, and are put as a thin coating on glass due to its inherently flat and durable surface.
A wave reflector is a mirror. Light is made up of waves, and when those waves reflect off the flat surface of a mirror, they retain the same degree of curvature and vergence as the original waves, but in the opposite direction.
When the waves are focused through a lens, they generate a picture, just as if the waves had originated from the mirror’s direction. Light can also be visualized as rays (imaginary lines radiating from the light source, that are always perpendicular to the waves). These rays are reflected at an equal yet opposite angle from which they strike the mirror (incident light).
This quality, known as specular reflection, separates a mirror from things that diffuse light, splitting it up and scattering it in a variety of directions (such as flat-white paint). As a result, a mirror can be any surface with a texture or roughness smaller (smoother) than the wavelength of the waves.
Types of mirrors
Many factors can be used to classify mirrors, including shape, support and reflective materials, manufacturing methods, and intended use.
By shape
Planar, convex, and concave mirror forms are common.
Curved mirrors’ surfaces are frequently shaped like a spherical. In telescopes (from radio waves to X-rays), antennas for communicating with broadcast satellites, and solar furnaces, mirrors that are supposed to accurately concentrate parallel rays of light into a point are frequently made in the shape of a paraboloid of revolution. Instead, a segmented mirror made up of many flat or curved mirrors that are properly arranged and orientated can be employed.
A circular cylinder or a parabolic cylinder can be used as a mirror to concentrate sunlight onto a long pipe.
By structural material
Because of its transparency, ease of production, rigidity, hardness, and ability to take a smooth finish, glass is the most used structural material for mirrors.
Back-silvered mirrors
The most common mirrors are made out of a transparent glass plate with a thin reflective layer on the back (the side facing the incident and reflected light) that is protected against abrasion, tarnishing, and corrosion by a coating. The glass is commonly soda-lime glass, but lead glass or other transparent materials may be used for ornamental effects or for specific applications.
For less weight or impact resistance, a clear plastic plate can be used instead of glass. To prevent injury in the event that the mirror is damaged, a flexible clear plastic film can be glued to the front and/or rear surfaces of the mirror. Lettering or decorative motifs can be printed on the glass’s front face or etched into the reflective layer. An anti-reflection coating may be applied to the front surface.
Front-silvered mirrors
Any stiff material can be used to make mirrors that are reflective on the front surface (the same side as the incident and reflected light). [33] Although the supporting material does not have to be clear, telescope mirrors frequently employ glass. A transparent protective coating is frequently applied to the reflecting layer to protect it from abrasion, tarnishing, and corrosion, as well as to absorb specific wavelengths.
Flexible mirrors
Because they cannot shatter or produce sharp flakes, thin flexible plastic mirrors are occasionally used for safety. They are stretched flat on a hard frame to produce their flatness. A layer of evaporated aluminum is commonly sandwiched between two thin layers of translucent plastic.
By reflective material
The reflecting layer in most common mirrors is commonly a metal, such as silver, tin, nickel, or chromium, placed wet; or aluminum, deposited by sputtering or evaporation in vacuum. One or more layers of transparent materials with appropriate refractive indices can also be used to create the reflecting layer.
The structural material could be metal, in which case the reflecting layer could simply be the metal’s surface. Infrared light (such as in space heaters) or microwaves are frequently reflected using metal concave dishes (as in satellite TV antennas). A liquid metal surface, such as mercury, is used in liquid metal telescopes.
Nonlinear optical mirrors
The phase difference between incident beams is reversed using nonlinear optics in a phase-conjugating mirror. Coherent beam combination, for example, could benefit from such mirrors. Self-guiding laser beams and atmospheric distortion correction in image systems are two useful uses.
Price Of Dressing Mirror In Ghana
The price of dressing mirror in Ghana ranges between ยข 90 to ยข 1000. This price depends on the size, shape and design of mirror you want. The price is an estimate so it might be more or less at the dealership.
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