mirrorimage

Mirror image refers to the image formed when light or other waves are reflected by a surface, or more generally to the result of a reflection across a line or plane. In optics, a plane mirror produces a virtual, upright image that is the same size as the object and appears behind the mirror at the same distance. The image is laterally inverted relative to the object, a reversal arising from the observer’s viewpoint rather than from an intrinsic reversal of the object. Curved mirrors, such as concave and convex surfaces, produce images whose size, orientation, and distance depend on the object’s position; concave mirrors can yield real, inverted images or virtual, upright images, while convex mirrors always produce virtual, diminished, upright images.

In mathematics, a mirror image is the result of a reflection transformation across a line (in two dimensions) or a plane (in three dimensions). Reflections preserve distances but reverse orientation, creating mirror symmetry about the reflecting axis or plane.

In science and everyday use, mirror images have specialized meanings. In chemistry, enantiomers are non-superimposable mirror-image forms of chiral molecules that can exhibit different chemical or biological behavior. In biology and anatomy, many structures show bilateral symmetry, with approximate mirror-image organization. Mirror writing is a technique where text is written in reverse and reads correctly when viewed in a mirror, sometimes used artistically or as a historical security feature. In digital media, a mirror image is a flipped copy produced by reversing pixel order along a chosen axis.

See also: symmetry, reflection, enantiomer.