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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.