Spark image

Image in a plane mirror

The image in a plane mirror seems to be somewhere in space behind the mirror, this type of image is called a virtual image. It is actually the same distance from the mirror as the object is in front of the mirror. You can see the image but you can’t actually touch it or focus it on a surface. The light rays from the object spread out, hit the mirror and then reflect – they seem to have come from a point behind the mirror. This is the image of the object.



The image is the same distance behind the mirror as the object is in front of it.
 
 
 
© Keith Gibbs 2013