WEBVTT

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(Science Trek music)
JOAN CARTAN-HANSEN, HOST:

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Scientists have lots of uses for
mirrors, but not all mirrors are

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the same.
Plane mirrors are flat.

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They are the ones you see in
your bathroom.

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Scientists use plane mirrors in
microscopes to reflect light so

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they can see very small things.
Have you ever seen yourself in a

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funhouse mirror?
These mirrors are specially

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designed.
Light coming in gets bent and

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you see a distorted image.
Concave mirrors curve inward.

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They can be used to make thing
larger.

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Scientists use concave mirrors
in large telescopes.

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On the other hand, convex
mirrors are thinner in the

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middle and bend light outward.
Drivers use convex mirrors in

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their side mirrors.
By the way, your reflection in a

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mirror only appears to be
reversed.

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That's because your brain is
used to seeing faces turned 180

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degrees.
Light bounces off the mirror and

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is reflected back the way it
came.

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So, the image is reflected, not
rotated the way our brain

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usually expects.
So, an image in a mirror appears

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to be reversed.
For more information about light

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and color, check out the Science
Trek website.

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You'll find it at Science Trek
dot org.