NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Mirror

A mirror is an object with a surface that has good specular reflection; that is, it is smooth enough to form an image. The most familiar type of mirror is the plane mirror, which has a flat surface. Curved mirrors are also used, to produce magnified or demagnified images or focus light or simply distort the reflected image. Look up mirror in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (560x786, 214 KB) Licensing This image is copyrighted. ... Chinese vase A vase with a sunflower pattern A modern designed vase The vase is an open container, often used to hold cut flowers. ... Diagram of specular reflection Specular reflection is the perfect, mirror-like reflection of light from a surface, in which light from a single incoming direction is reflected onto a single outgoing direction. ... Look up image in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A plane mirror is a mirror with a planar reflective surface. ... Reflections in a spherical convex mirror. ... Magnification is the process of enlarging something only in appearance, not physical size. ...

Mirrors are most commonly used for personal grooming (in which case the old-fashioned term "looking-glass" can be used), decoration, and architecture. Mirrors are also used in scientific apparatus such as telescopes and lasers, cameras, and industrial machinery. Most mirrors are designed for visible light; however, mirrors designed for other types of waves or other wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation are also used, especially in optical instruments. A domestic cat grooming itself by licking its fur clean Personal grooming, sometimes called preening, or simply grooming, is the art of cleaning, grooming, and maintaining parts of the body. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Laser (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Camera (disambiguation). ... The optical spectrum (light or visible spectrum) is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible to the human eye. ... For other uses, see Wavelength (disambiguation). ... This box: Electromagnetic (EM) radiation is a self-propagating wave in space with electric and magnetic components. ...

History

The earliest manufactured mirrors were pieces of polished stone such as obsidian, a naturally occurring volcanic glass. Examples of obsidian mirrors found in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) have been dated to around 6000 BC. Polished stone mirrors from central and south America date from around 2000 BC onwards.^[1] This article is about a type of volcanic glass. ... This article is about two nested areas of Turkey, a plateau region within a peninsula. ...

Mirrors of polished copper were crafted in Mesopotamia from 4000 BC,^[1] and in ancient Egypt from around 3000 BC.^[2] In China, bronze mirrors were manufactured from around 2000 BC.^[3] Mesopotamia was a cradle of civilization geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq. ...

Metal-coated glass mirrors are said to have been invented in Sidon (modern-day Lebanon) in the first century AD,^[4] and glass mirrors backed with gold leaf are mentioned by the Roman author Pliny in his Natural History, written in about 77 AD.^[5] The Romans also developed a technique for creating crude mirrors by coating blown glass with molten lead.^[6] View of the new city the Sea Castle. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Metal leaf. ... Pliny the Elder: an imaginative 19th Century portrait. ... Naturalis Historia, 1669 edition, title page. ...

Some time during the early Renaissance, European manufacturers perfected a superior method of coating glass with a tin-mercury amalgam. The exact date and location of the discovery is unknown, but in the 16th century, Venice, a city famed for its glass-making expertise, became a centre of mirror production using this new technique. Glass mirrors from this period were extremely expensive luxuries.^[7] The Saint-Gobain factory, founded by royal initiative in France, was an important manufacturer, and Bohemian and German glass, often rather cheaper, was also important. This article is about the European Renaissance of the 14th-17th centuries. ... This article is about mixtures (alloys) of mercury with other elements. ... For other uses, see Venice (disambiguation). ... St. ... For other uses, see Bohemia (disambiguation). ...

The invention of the silvered-glass mirror is credited to German chemist Justus von Liebig in 1835. His process involved the deposition of a thin layer of metallic silver onto glass through the chemical reduction of silver nitrate. This silvering process was adapted for mass manufacturing and led to the greater availability of affordable mirrors. Nowadays, mirrors are often produced by the vacuum deposition of aluminium (or sometimes silver) directly onto the glass substrate. Silvering is the chemical process of coating glass with a reflective substance, originally silver, in order to create a mirror. ... Freiherr Justus von Liebig (May 12, 1803 in Darmstadt, Germany â€“ April 18, 1873 in Munich, Germany) was a German chemist who made major contributions to agricultural and biological chemistry, and worked on the organization of organic chemistry. ... Vacuum deposition is a process used to create a thin layer of a substance (a coating) on a solid object (the substrate). ... Aluminum redirects here. ...

Manufacturing

Most mirrors are made by applying a reflective coating to a suitable substrate. The most common such substrate is glass, due to its ease of fabrication, its rigidity, and its ability to take a smooth finish. The reflective coating is typically applied to the back surface of the glass, so that it is protected from corrosion and accidental damage. (Glass is much more scratch-resistant than most reflective coatings.) This article is about the material. ...

The substrate is shaped, polished and cleaned, and is then coated. Glass mirrors are most often coated with silver or aluminium, implemented by a series of coatings: This article is about the chemical element. ... Aluminum redirects here. ...

The tin is applied because the silver will not bond with the glass. The activator causes the tin/silver to harden. Copper is added for long-term durability.^[8] The paint protects the coating on the back of the mirror from scratches and other accidental damage.

In some applications, generally those that are cost-sensitive or that require great durability, mirrors are instead made from a single, bulk material such as polished metal.

For technical applications such as laser mirrors, the reflective coating is typically applied by vacuum deposition on the front surface of the substrate. This eliminates double reflections and reduces absorption of light in the mirror. Cheaper technical mirrors use a silver, aluminium, or gold coating (the latter typically for infrared mirrors), and achieve reflectivities of 90–95% when new. A protective overcoat may be applied to prevent oxidation of the reflective layer. Applications requiring higher reflectivity or greater durability use dielectric coatings, which can achieve reflectivities as high as 99.999% over a narrow range of wavelengths. For other uses, see Laser (disambiguation). ... Vacuum deposition is a process used to create a thin layer of a substance (a coating) on a solid object (the substrate). ... GOLD refers to one of the following: GOLD (IEEE) is an IEEE program designed to garner more student members at the university level (Graduates of the Last Decade). ... For other uses, see Infrared (disambiguation). ... The most fundamental reactions in chemistry are the redox processes. ... A dielectric mirror is a special kind of a mirror. ...

Effects

In a plane mirror, a parallel beam of light changes its direction as a whole, while still remaining parallel; the images formed by a plane mirror are virtual images, of the same size as the original object (see mirror image). There are also concave mirrors, where a parallel beam of light becomes a convergent beam, whose rays intersect in the focus of the mirror. Lastly, there are convex mirrors, where a parallel beam becomes divergent, with the rays appearing to diverge from a common intersection "behind" the mirror. Spherical concave and convex mirrors do not focus parallel rays to a single point due to spherical aberration. However, the ideal of focusing to a point is a commonly-used approximation. Parabolic reflectors resolve this, allowing incoming parallel rays (for example, light from a distant star) to be focused to a small spot; almost an ideal point. Parabolic reflectors are not suitable for imaging nearby objects because the light rays are not parallel. A mirror image is a mirror based duplicate of a single image. ... Diagram of specular reflection Specular reflection is the perfect, mirror-like reflection of light from a surface, in which light from a single incoming direction is reflected onto a single outgoing direction. ... Drawn by Theresa Knott File links The following pages link to this file: Mirror Categories: GFDL images ... Parallel is a term in geometry and in everyday life that refers to a property in Euclidean space of two or more lines or planes, or a combination of these. ... For other uses, see Light (disambiguation). ... Top: The formation of a virtual image using a concave lens. ... A mirror image is a mirror based duplicate of a single image. ... Reflections in a spherical convex mirror. ... In the absence of a more specific context, convergence denotes the approach toward a definite value, as time goes on; or to a definite point, a common view or opinion, or toward a fixed or equilibrium state. ... An image that is partially in focus, but mostly out of focus in varying degrees. ... Reflections in a spherical convex mirror. ... In optics, a ray is an idealized narrow beam of light. ... Focal plane Longitudinal sections In optics, spherical aberration is an image imperfection that occurs due to the increased refraction of light rays that occurs when rays strike a lens or mirror near its edge, in comparison with those that strike nearer the center. ... A parabolic reflector (also known as a parabolic dish or a parabolic mirror) is a reflective device formed in the shape of a paraboloid of revolution. ...

A beam of light reflects off a mirror at an angle of reflection that is equal to its angle of incidence (if the size of a mirror is much larger than the wavelength of light). That is, if the beam of light is shining on a mirror's surface at a 30° angle from vertical, then it reflects from the point of incidence at a 30° angle from vertical in the opposite direction.

This law mathematically follows from the interference of a plane wave on a flat boundary (of much larger size than the wavelength). In the physics of wave propagation (especially electromagnetic waves), a plane wave (also spelled planewave) is a constant-frequency wave whose wavefronts (surfaces of constant amplitude and phase) are infinite parallel planes normal to the propagation direction. ...

Applications

Download high resolution version (500x708, 117 KB)Spherical mirror (actually a cinema) in Millennium Square, Bristol, England. ... Download high resolution version (500x708, 117 KB)Spherical mirror (actually a cinema) in Millennium Square, Bristol, England. ...

Safety and easier viewing

Rear-view mirrors are widely used in and on vehicles (such as automobiles, or bicycles), to allow drivers to see other vehicles coming up behind them. Some motorcycle helmets have a built-in so-called MROS (Multiple Reflective Optic System): a set of reflective surfaces inside the helmet that together function as a rear-view mirror.[1] There exist rear view sunglasses, of which the left end of the left glass and the right end of the right glass work as mirrors. The rear-view mirror of a Mazda 626. ... The Trikke is a Human Powered Vehicle (HPV) Automobiles are among the most commonly used engine powered vehicles. ... Car redirects here. ... This mountain bicycle features oversized tires, a sturdy frame, front shock absorbers, and handlebars oriented perpendicular to the bikes axis Bicycle may also refer to Bicycle Playing Cards. ... Two white motorcycle helmets, full-face and open-face. ... Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses (RB2132 901L) Sunglasses or sun glasses are a visual aid, variously termed spectacles or glasses, which feature lenses that are coloured or darkened to prevent strong light from reaching the eyes. ...

Convex mirrors are used to provide a wider field of view than a flat mirror. They are sometimes placed at road junctions, and corners of places such as parking lots to allow people to see around corners to avoid crashing into other vehicles or shopping carts. They are also sometimes used as part of security systems, so that a single video camera can show more than one angle at a time. The field of view is the part of the observable world that is seen at any given moment. ... In the field of road transport, a road junction is a place where two or more roads either meet or cross. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A row of parked (and very colorful) shopping carts equipped with a coin-operated mechanism. ... Video cameras are used primarily in two modes. ... This article is about angles in geometry. ...

Mouth mirrors or "dental mirrors" are used by dentists to allow indirect vision and lighting within the mouth. Their reflective surfaces may be either flat or curved. Mouth mirrors are also commonly used by engineers to allow vision in tight spaces and around corners in equipment. A mouth mirror A mouth mirror is an instrument in dentistry commonly used in the dental armamentarium. ... X-rays can reveal if a person has cavities Dentistry is the practical application of knowledge of dental science (the science of placement, arrangement, function of teeth) to human beings. ... Look up engineer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Two-way mirrors

A two-way mirror, also sometimes referred to as a one-way mirror or one-way glass, reflects some percentage of the light and lets some other percentage pass. It is a sheet of glass coated with a layer of metal only a few dozen atoms thick, allowing some of the light through the surface (from both sides). It is used between a dark room and a brightly lit room. People on the brightly lit side see their own reflection — it looks like a normal mirror. People on the dark side see through it — it looks like a transparent window. It may be used to observe criminal suspects or customers. The same type of mirror, when used in an optical instrument, is called a half-silvered mirror or beam splitter. Its purpose is to split a beam of light so that half passes straight through, while the other half is reflected — this is useful for interferometry. The reality television program Big Brother makes extensive use of two-way mirrors throughout its set to allow cameramen in special black hallways to use movable cameras to videotape contestants without their coming in contact with the workers. The so-called one-way glass, two-way mirror or mirrored glass is a technique that exploits the use of an enclosed darkened room and an enclosed well-lit room separated by a pane of highly reflective glass. ... Transparent glass ball In optics, transparency is the property of allowing light to pass. ... ... A beam splitter is an optical device, that splits a beam of light in two. ... It has been suggested that Optical interferometry be merged into this article or section. ... Big Brother a reality television show. ...

Contrary to popular belief, passive one-way mirrors that operate directionally between equally lit rooms do not exist. The laws of physics do not allow for real, passive one-way mirrors or windows (ones that do not need external energy); if such a device were possible, one could break the second law of thermodynamics and make energy flow from a cold object to a hot one, by placing such a mirror between them. One-way windows can be made to work with polarized light, however, without violating the second law.^[9]^[10] Optical isolators are one-way devices that are commonly used with lasers. The second law of thermodynamics is an expression of the universal law of increasing entropy. ... A Faraday isolator or optical isolator is an optical component which allows the transmission of polarised light in only one direction. ...

Signalling

With the sun as light source, a mirror can be used to signal by variations in the orientation of the mirror. The signal can be used over long distances, possibly up to 60 kilometres on a clear day. This technique was used by Native American tribes and numerous militaries to transmit information between distant outposts. Sol redirects here. ... â€œkmâ€ redirects here. ... For other uses, see Native Americans (disambiguation). ...

Mirrors can also be used for rescue, especially to attract the attention of search and rescue helicopters. Specialised signalling mirrors are available and are often included in military survival kits.

Technology

Televisions and projectors

Microscopic mirrors are a core element of many of the largest high-definition televisions and video projectors. A common technology of this type is Texas Instruments' DLP. A DLP chip is a postage stamp-sized microchip whose surface is comprised of an array of millions of microscopic mirrors. The picture is created as the individual mirrors move to either reflect light toward the projection surface (pixel on), or toward a light absorbing surface (pixel off). High-definition television (HDTV) means broadcast of television signals with a higher resolution than traditional formats (NTSC, SECAM, PAL) allow. ... An American family watching television in the 1950s. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN), better known in the electronics industry (and popularly) as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, USA, renowned for developing and commercializing semiconductor and computer technology. ... This article is about Digital Light Processing. ... This article is about the picture element. ...

Other projection technologies involving mirrors include LCoS. Like a DLP chip, LCoS is a microchip of similar size, but rather than millions of individual mirrors, there is a single mirror that is actively shielded by a liquid crystal matrix with up to millions of pixels. The picture is formed as light is either reflected toward the projection surface (pixel on), or absorbed by the activated LCD pixels (pixel off). LCoS-based televisions and projectors often use 3 chips, one for each primary color. Liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS or LCoS) is a micro-projection or micro-display technology typically applied in projection televisions. ... Schlieren texture of Liquid Crystal nematic phase Liquid crystals are substances that exhibit a phase of matter that has properties between those of a conventional liquid, and those of a solid crystal. ... Look up matrix in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A pixel (a contraction of picture element) is one of the many tiny dots that make up the representation of a picture in a computers memory. ... LCD redirects here. ...

Large mirrors are used in rear projection televisions. Light (for example from a DLP as mentioned above) is "folded" by one or more mirrors so that the television set is compact.

Instruments

Telescopes and other precision instruments use front silvered or first surface mirrors, where the reflecting surface is placed on the front (or first) surface of the glass (this eliminates reflection from glass surface ordinary back mirrors have). Some of them use silver, but most are aluminum, which is more reflective at short wavelengths than silver. All of these coatings are easily damaged and require special handling. They reflect 90% to 95% of the incident light when new. The coatings are typically applied by vacuum deposition. A protective overcoat is usually applied before the mirror is removed from the vacuum, because the coating otherwise begins to corrode as soon as it is exposed to oxygen and humidity in the air. Front silvered mirrors have to be resurfaced occasionally to keep their quality. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Vacuum deposition is a process used to create a thin layer of a substance (a coating) on a solid object (the substrate). ...

The reflectivity of the mirror coating can be measured using a reflectometer and for a particular metal it will be different for different wavelengths of light. This is exploited in some optical work to make cold mirrors and hot mirrors. A cold mirror is made by using a transparent substrate and choosing a coating material that is more reflective to visible light and more transmissive to infrared light. A hot mirror is the opposite, the coating preferentially reflects infrared. Mirror surfaces are sometimes given thin film overcoatings both to retard degradation of the surface and to increase their reflectivity in parts of the spectrum where they will be used. For instance, aluminum mirrors are commonly coated with silicon dioxide or magnesium fluoride. The reflectivity as a function of wavelength depends on both the thickness of the coating and on how it is applied. Two scientific instruments commonly designated Reflectometer are: Reflectometer (optics): In optics, an instrument for measuring the reflectance of reflecting surfaces. ... See also list of optical topics. ... Cold Mirror is a specialized dichromatic interference filter that operates over a very wide temperature range to reflect the entire visible light spectrum while very efficiently transmitting infrared wavelengths. ... A hot mirror is a specialized dichromatic interference filter often employed to protect optical systems by reflecting heat back into the light source. ... For other uses, see Infrared (disambiguation). ...

For scientific optical work, dielectric mirrors are often used. These are glass (or sometimes other material) substrates on which one or more layers of dielectric material are deposited, to form an optical coating. By careful choice of the type and thickness of the dielectric layers, the range of wavelengths and amount of light reflected from the mirror can be specified. The best mirrors of this type can reflect >99.999% of the light (in a narrow range of wavelengths) which is incident on the mirror. Such mirrors are often used in lasers. For the book by Sir Isaac Newton, see Opticks. ... A dielectric mirror is a special kind of a mirror. ... For alternative meanings see laser (disambiguation). ...

In astronomy, adaptive optics is a technique to measure variable image distortions and adapt a deformable mirror accordingly on a timescale of milliseconds, to compensate for the distortions. A deformable mirror can be used to correct wavefront errors in an astronomical telescope. ... Deformable mirror (DM) represent the most convenient tool for wavefront control and correction of optical aberrations. ...

Although the most of mirrors are designed to reflect visible light, surfaces reflecting other forms of electromagnetic radiation are also called "mirrors". The mirrors for other ranges of electromagnetic waves are used in optics and astronomy. Mirrors for radio waves are important elements of radio telescopes. Electromagnetic radiation or EM radiation is a combination (cross product) of oscillating electric and magnetic fields perpendicular to each other, moving through space as a wave, effectively transporting energy and momentum. ... For other uses, see Astronomy (disambiguation). ... The 64 meter radio telescope at Parkes Observatory A radio telescope is a form of directional radio antenna used in radio astronomy and in tracking and collecting data from satellites and space probes. ...

A Mangin mirror is a combination lens and concave mirror and is widely used in optical instruments and even sometimes in cameras.[2] [3][4] In optics, a Mangin mirror is a combined lens-mirror (catadioptric) system, consisting of a concave lens with a reflective rear side. ...

Face-to-face mirrors

Some devices use two or more mirrors facing one another to generate multiple reflections:

The reflected images between these mirrors give the appearance of an infinite regress. In optics, a Fabry-PÃ©rot interferometer or etalon is typically made of a transparent plate with two reflecting surfaces, or two parallel highly reflecting mirrors. ... For other uses, see Laser (disambiguation). ... A cavity resonator uses resonance to amplify a wave. ... A complete catoptric theatre, opened to reveal the inside A catoptric cistula, also called a catoptric theatre or chest, is a box with several sides, lined with mirrors, so as to magnify or multiply images of any object placed inside the box. ... A artists depiction of a Cosmos 1 type spaceship in orbit Solar sails (also called light sails or photon sails, especially when they use light sources other than the Sun) are a proposed form of spacecraft propulsion using large membrane mirrors. ... An infinite regress is a series of propositions arises if the truth of proposition P1 requires the support of proposition P2, and for any proposition in the series Pn, the truth of Pn requires the support of the truth of Pn+1. ...

Military applications

It has been said that Archimedes used a large array of mirrors to burn Roman ships during an attack on Syracuse. This has never been proven or disproved; however, many have put it to the test. Recently, on a popular Discovery Channel show, MythBusters, a team from MIT tried to recreate the famous "Archimedes Death Ray". They were successful at starting a fire on a ship at 75 feet away; however, previous attempts to light the boat on fire using only the bronze mirrors available in Archimedes' time were unsuccessful, and the time taken to ignite the craft would have made its use impractical, resulting in the MythBusters team deeming the myth "busted". (However, see solar power tower for a practical use of this technique.) For other uses, see Archimedes (disambiguation). ... Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... Discovery Channel is a cable and satellite TV channel founded by John Hendricks which is distributed by Discovery Communications. ... MythBusters is an American popular science television program on the Discovery Channel starring American special effects experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, who use basic elements of the scientific method to test the validity of various rumors, urban legends and news stories in popular culture. ... MapÃºa Institute of Technology (MIT, MapÃºaTech or simply MapÃºa) is a private, non-sectarian, Filipino tertiary institute located in Intramuros, Manila. ... The solar power tower at Solar Two in California The solar power tower (also known as Central Tower power plants or Heliostat power plants or power towers) is a type of solar furnace using a tower to receive the focused sunlight. ...

Seasonal lighting

Due to its location in a steep-sided valley, the Italian town of Viganella gets no direct sunlight for seven weeks each winter. In 2006 a €100,000 computer-controlled mirror, 8×5 m, was installed to reflect sunlight into the town's piazza. In early 2007 the similarly situated village of Bondo, Switzerland, was considering applying this solution as well.^[11]^[12] Viganella Viganella is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 120 km northeast of Turin and about 30 km northwest of Verbania. ... Bondo is a municipality in the Swiss canton of GraubÃ¼nden on the Italian border. ...

Leisure

Decoration

Mirrors, typically large and unframed, are frequently used in interior decoration to create an illusion of space, and amplify the apparent size of a room. Interior decoration or dÃ©cor is the art of decorating a room so that it is attractive, easy to use, and functions well with the existing architecture. ...

Mirrors are used also in some schools of feng shui, an ancient Chinese practice of placement and arrangement of space to achieve harmony with the environment. Fēng Shuǐ (風水 – literally, wind and water pronounced fung shuway), which may be more than 3000 years old, is the ancient practice of placement to achieve harmony with the environment. ...

The softness of old mirrors is sometimes replicated by contemporary artisans for use in interior design. These reproduction antiqued mirrors are works of art and can bring color and texture to an otherwise hard, cold reflective surface. It is an artistic process that has been attempted by many and perfected by few.

A decorative reflecting sphere of thin metal-coated glass, working as a reducing wide-angle mirror, is sold as a Christmas ornament called a bauble. For other uses, see Sphere (disambiguation). ... Christmas bauble (called a Christmas ball in American English) Christmas ornaments are decorations (usually made of glass, metal, wood or ceramics) that are used to festoon a Christmas tree. ...

Entertainment

The hall of mirrors, commonly found in amusement parks, is an attraction in which a number of distorted mirrors are used to produce unusual reflections of the visitor. Mirror mazes, also found in amusement parks, contain large numbers of mirrors and sheets of glass. The idea is to navigate the disorientating array without bumping into the walls. A house of mirrors is a traditional attraction in carnivals. ... Theme park redirects here. ...

Mirrors are often used in magic to create an illusion. One effect is called Pepper's ghost. Illuminated rotating disco balls covered with small mirrors are used to cast moving spots of light around a dance floor. Mirrors are employed in kaleidoscopes, personal entertainment devices invented in Scotland by sir David Brewster. â€œIllusionistâ€ redirects here. ... For other uses, see illusion (disambiguation). ... A viewer looking through the red rectangle sees a ghost floating next to the table. ... A mirrored disco ball A disco ball, mirror ball, or ball mirror is a roughly spherical object that reflects light directed at it in many directions, producing a complex display. ... A toy kaleidoscope tube Pattern as seen through a kaleidoscope tube Pattern as seen through a kaleidoscope tube Pattern as seen through a kaleidoscope tube The kaleidoscope is a tube of mirrors containing, loose coloured beads or pebbles, or other small coloured objects. ... This article is about the country. ... Sir David Brewster. ...

Art

Filippo Brunelleschi discovered linear perspective with the help of the mirror, Leonardo da Vinci called the mirror the "master of painters". He recommended. "When you wish to see whether your whole picture accords with what you have portrayed from nature take a mirror and reflect the actual object in it. Compare what is reflected with your painting and carefully consider whether both likenesses of the subject correspond, particularly in regard to the mirror. The mirror is the central device in some of the greatest of European paintings: Jan Van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait, Diego Velazquez's Las Meninas and Edouard Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère. Without a mirror, the great self portraits by Dürer, Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Frida Kahlo could not have been painted. M. C. Escher used special shapes of mirrors in order to have a much more complete view of the surroundings than by direct observation (Hand with Reflecting Sphere). István Orosz’s anamorphic works are images distorted such way that they only become clearly visible when reflected in a suitably-shaped and positioned mirror. Some other contemporary artists use mirrors as the material of art, like in mirror-sculptures and paintings on mirror surfaces. Some artists build special mirror installations as the neon mirror cubes by Jeppe Hein. Sculpture of Brunelleschi looking at the dome in Florence Filippo Brunelleschi (1377 â€“ April 15, 1446) was one of the foremost architects of the Italian Renaissance. ... â€œDa Vinciâ€ redirects here. ... Portrait of a Man in a Turban (actually a chaperon), probably a self-portrait, painted 1433 Jan van Eyck or Johannes de Eyck (pronounced: vÄn ike)(c. ... The Arnolfini Portrait is a painting in oils on oak panel executed by the Early Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck in 1434. ... Las Meninas, painted in 1656. ... Las Meninas (also known as The Maids of Honour) is a painting by the Spanish artist Diego VelÃ¡zquez. ... Édouard Manet (portrait by Nadar) Édouard Manet (January 23, 1832 - April 30, 1883) was a noted French painter. ... A Bar at the Folies-BergÃ¨re (1882) was the last major work by French painter Ã‰douard Manet before he died. ... Self-portrait by Vincent Van Gogh A portrait is a painting, photograph, or other artistic representation of a person. ... Self-Portrait, 1493, Oil on Canvas Albrecht DÃ¼rer (May 21, 1471 - April 6, 1528) was a German painter, wood carver, engraver, and mathematician. ... This article is about the Dutch artist. ... van gogh is a piece of shit Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Netherlands artist. ... Frida Kahlo (July 6, 1907 â€“ July 13, 1954) was a Mexican painter, who has achieved great international popularity. ... Maurits Cornelis Escher (June 17, 1898 â€“ March 27, 1972), usually referred to as M. C. Escher, was a Dutch graphic artist. ... Hand with Reflecting Sphere also known as Self-Portrait in Spherical Mirror is a lithograph print by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher (Maurits Cornelis Escher) which was first printed in January, 1935. ... IstvÃ¡n Orosz (b. ... Anamorphic widescreen is a cinematography and photography technique for capturing a widescreen picture on standard 35mm film. ...

Painters depicting someone in front of a mirror often also show the person's reflection. This is a kind of abstraction—in most cases the angle of view is such that the person's reflection should not be visible. Similarly, in movies and still photography an actor or actress is often shown ostensibly looking at him or herself in the mirror, and yet the reflection faces the camera. In reality, the actor or actress sees only the camera and its operator in this case, not their own reflection.

Mirrors and superstition

It is a common superstition that someone who breaks a mirror will receive seven years of bad luck. One of the many reasons for this belief is that the mirror is believed to reflect part of the soul, therefore, breaking the mirror will break part of the soul. However, the soul is said to regenerate every seven years, thus coming back unbroken. To counter this one of many rituals has to be performed, the easiest of which is to stop the mirror from reflecting the broken soul by grinding it to dust.^{[citation needed]} The belief might also simply originate from the high cost of mirrors in times gone past. For other uses, see Superstition (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Soul (disambiguation). ...

According to legend, a vampire has no reflection in mirrors because it is an undead creature and has already lost its soul. Philip Burne-Jones, The Vampire, 1897 Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings that subsist on human and/or animal lifeforce. ... For other uses, see Undead (disambiguation). ...

Another superstition claims it is bad luck to have two mirrors facing each other.^{[citation needed]}

Mirrors and animals

Experiments have shown that only large-brained social animals are able to recognise that a mirror shows a reflection of themselves.^[13] Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 575 Ã— 600 pixels Full resolution (1016 Ã— 1060 pixel, file size: 252 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Indian elephant at Whipsnade Zoo . ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 575 Ã— 600 pixels Full resolution (1016 Ã— 1060 pixel, file size: 252 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Indian elephant at Whipsnade Zoo . ...

Animals that have shown they are able to use a mirror to study themselves: The mirror test is a measure of self-awareness developed by Gordon Gallup Jr in 1970. ...

Binomial name Linnaeus, 1758 Asian Elephant range The Asian or Asiatic Elephant (Elephas maximus), sometimes known by the name of its nominate subspecies (the Indian Elephant), is one of the three living species of elephant, and the only living species of the genus Elephas. ... For other uses, see Bonobo (disambiguation). ... Binomial name (Blumenbach, 1775) distribution of Common Chimpanzee. ... For other uses, see Dolphin (disambiguation). ... This article is about the primate. ... For other uses, see Pig (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Llama (disambiguation). ...

Unusual types of mirror

Other types of reflecting device are also called "mirrors". For example metallic reflectors are used to reflect infrared light (such as in space heaters), or microwaves. Space Heater is the title of the fifth album by The Reverend Horton Heat. ... This article is about the type of Electromagnetic radiation. ...

An acoustic mirror is a passive device used to reflect and perhaps to focus sound waves. Acoustic mirrors were used for selective detection of sound waves, especially during World War 2. They were used for detection of enemy aircraft prior to the development of radar. Acoustic mirrors are used for remote probing of the atmosphere; they can be used to form a narrow diffraction-limited beam.^[14] They can also be used for underwater "imaging". Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Kilnsea is a hamlet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, in an area known as Holderness. ... An acoustic mirror is a device used to focus and amplify sound waves. ... This article is about compression waves. ... German soldiers at the Battle of Stalingrad World War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the worlds nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. ... For other uses, see Radar (disambiguation). ...

Active mirrors are mirrors that amplify the light they reflect. They are used to make disk lasers.^[15] The amplification is typically over a narrow range of wavelengths, and requires an external source of power. // An optically-pumped disk laser A disk laser is a type of solid-state laser characterized by a heat drain and laser output that are realized on opposite sides of a thin layer of active medium. ...

An atomic mirror is a device which reflects matter waves. Usually, atomic mirrors work at grazing incidence. Such a mirror can be used for atomic interferometry and atomic holography. It has been proposed that they can be used for non-destructive imaging systems with nanometer resolution.^[16] Atomic mirror can refer to: an atomic mirror, a non-profit anti-nuclear war organization an atomic mirror in physics, device for specular reflection of beam of neutral atoms Category: ... In physics, the de Broglie hypothesis is the statement that all matter has a wave-like nature (wave-particle duality) and that the wavelength and momentum of a particle are related by a simple equation. ... Fig. ...

Cold mirrors are dielectric mirrors that reflect the entire visible light spectrum while efficiently transmitting infrared wavelengths. Conversely, hot mirrors reflect infrared light while allowing visible light to pass. These can be used to separate useful light from unneeded infrared to reduce heating of components in an optical device. They can also be used as dichroic beamsplitters. Cold Mirror is a specialized dichromatic interference filter that operates over a very wide temperature range to reflect the entire visible light spectrum while very efficiently transmitting infrared wavelengths. ... A hot mirror is a specialized dichromatic interference filter often employed to protect optical systems by reflecting heat back into the light source. ... Video and installation art show that coincided with Peripheral Produce Invitationals in January, 2003. ...

Corner reflectors use three flat mirrors to reflect light back towards its source. They are used for emergency location, and even laser ranging to the Moon. Working principle of a corner reflector A corner reflector is a retroreflector consisting of three mutually perpendicular, intersecting flat surfaces, which reflects electromagnetic waves back towards the source. ... Lidar (light detection and ranging) is a technology that determines distance to an object or surface using laser pulses. ... This article is about Earths moon. ...

X-ray mirrors produce specular reflection of X-rays. All known types work only at angles near grazing incidence, and only a small fraction of the rays are reflected.^[17] In the NATO phonetic alphabet, X-ray represents the letter X. An X-ray picture (radiograph) taken by Röntgen An X-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength approximately in the range of 5 pm to 10 nanometers (corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 PHz...

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