The history of mirrors is as

old as the human race

because of man’s inborn
instinct to see an image of
himself.
 Early forms of human made mirrors

• Polished stones
• Metals
• Brass mirrors (mentioned in
Bible)
• Bronze or silver mirrors (ancient
Greeks, Egyptians and Romans)
• The crude form of mirror made of
a glass plate, with a mercury or
tin as a reflecting film was
introduced in 1300.
• JUSTUS von LIEBIG (1836) – a
German chemist, made use of
metallic silver instead of mercury.
Most of our household mirrors
are of this type.
• Aluminum is as efficient as silver
but less prone to oxidation and
tarnishing
• Is it possible to make a liquid mirror?

• Human’s first mirror was the clear,

calm water of a river or pond
• The ray that strikes the surface is
called

INCIDENT RAY
• The ray that rebounds from the
surface is called

REFLECTED RAY
• The line perpendicular to the
surface at the point of incidence
is called

NORMAL
• The angle between the incident
ray and the normal is called

The ANGLE OF INCIDENCE Өi

• That between the reflected ray
and the normal is called

• The ANGLE OF REFLECTION (Өr)