
Do you see a patch of light on the other side (Fig. Direct the beam of the torch light onto the mirror that your friend is holding. Adjust your fingers with a small gap between them so that you can get a beam of light. Cover the glass of torch with your fingers and switch it on. Stand at another corner with a torch in your hand. Ask one of your friends to hold a mirror in his/her hand at one corner of the room. This activity should be done at night or in a dark room. Sometimes, we see reflections of trees, buildings and other objects in the water of a pond or a lake. Moreover, the distance between the image and the mirror, is the same as the distance between the mirror and the object. The image in a plane mirror is the same size and colour as that of the object. Mirrors change the direction of light incident on them. This bouncing of light by any smooth surface is called reflection of light.

So, light incident on any smooth shiny surface like a mirror bounces back into the same medium. An image can be seen in the mirror because the light reflected from an object falls on the mirror and it is reflected. We also see reflections of other objects that are in front of the mirror.

What you see is a reflection of your face in the mirror. You look into the mirror and see your own face inside the mirror. The likeness of an object carried and formed by light in a mirror is called an image.
