Infinity Mirror
(Option 5. Effect of change in society)
My project on Physics is about Infinity mirrors. Mirrors date back in ancient times when men saw reflections in a source of water (river or pond), believing it was magic. The first mirrors that were made were composed of polished stone (black volcanic glass, obsidian) and were found in Anatolia around 6000 B.C. To understand infinity mirrors more, we need to know the law of reflection, which is when light is reflected and then the eyes receives light waves, and make it appear that the waves are diverging from behind the mirror, and making an illusion that is happening to the mirror behind it. Wayne Potter came up with the idea of infinity mirror, which is a set of mirrors, one reflective mirror and one one-way mirror. The one-way or partially reflective mirror reflects an image back onto the fully reflective mirror, creating a series of smaller and smaller reflections that appear from a far distance.
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The following picture demonstrates how an infinity mirror works. It shows how the light from the LED light bounces back and forth between the mirrors, causing some of the light to escape. This creates a reflection and whoever is looking at it, they might think they see infinity lights coming out of the mirror (illusion).
Mirrors have helped modernize how technology works in today's world and has benefited many creations by making it easier to see and use it. In the beginning of the civilizations mirrors were created from metal, but from a very thin one. As time passed by, it kept changing into a more complex one. It had a great effect in the changing society since many ideas came to be and from there new experiments were experienced, creating more developed products in the use of mirrors and LED lights.
In conclusion mirrors have served as several purposes, for example to view one's own reflection, decoration, scientific instruments, safety, and entertainment. In today’s society, most of them are used for decorating and creating new experiments, just like the infinity mirror. People have used mirrors both as household objects and as an object for decoration throughout the years. The earliest made mirrors were hand mirrors. Then there were mirrors, large enough to reflect a whole body during the 1st century A.D. Mirrors have brought many advantages in helping individuals create new things and understand the basics of the law of reflection.
Finio, Ben. How an infinity mirror works. N.d. Infographic. InstructablesWeb. 10 Nov 2013. <http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-controlled-RGB-LED-Infinity-Mirror/>.