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How do mirrors use light to create a reflection?

We see objects in a mirror, because a mirror, when hit by particles of light called photons, reflects the photons back to us and some reach, and enter, our eyes. Photons that hit a rough surface will bounce off of the surface in a haphazard manner, while those that hit a smooth surface, such as a mirror, only bounce off of the surface at the same angle at which they hit the object. The scientific term for this phenomenon is reflection. Photons that bounce off of any part of our bodies and hit the mirror reflect back to our eyes from only one place on the mirror, and at only one angle. Therefore, each point on our bodies that reflects back to our eyes from one point on the mirror produces an image in the mirror. All of the images together make up our body’s reflection.

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